


A Certain Number of Nights at Monobear's

by GallicGalaxy



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Five Nights at Freddy's, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Awkward Semi-Romances, Crossover, Disturbing Pinocchio References, Everybody Stutters, Everyone is a robot, Except Izuru who is technically a puppet, F/M, Mikan with balloons WTF, National Free Balloon Day, OH GOD WHY, The last thing I want is Nagito on the ceiling, Why Is There So Much Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-02-27 10:24:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2689322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallicGalaxy/pseuds/GallicGalaxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story vaguely similar to the storyline of Fnaf 2 (Very vaguely), retold with robot versions of Super Dangan Ronpa 2 characters. After several nights of unintentionally traumatizing their new night guard, these surprisingly self-aware androids are faced with a rapidly intensifying threat, which may very well destroy all that they hold dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ninety Years Without Slumbering (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> It seems you've stumbled upon this weird little creation of mine. Well, if you intend on staying, there's probably not much I can say that will deter you. Anyway, this ridiculous fanfiction is not meant to represent any actual Fnaf theories that I have, it's just a crossover with a few of my own little twists to make it interesting to read. And yeah, I know that so-and-so-animatronic is supposed to be a boy and so-and-so-animatronic is technically a girl I just dgaf okay, they're robots, I can make them whatever gender I want. If you can't pick up on who is in which animatronic's role, I'll lay it out for you: Hajime is Freddy, Chiaki is Chica, Ibuki is Bonnie, Nagito is the Mangle, Izuru is the puppet, and Mikan is Balloon Boy (Who the hell made that decision?!? Oh wait, it was me...), and you've probably already figured out what role Junko plays in all this, but if you haven't you'll just have to wait until I post more chapters. My advice when reading this is to read it in the spirit it was written in, so don't take it too seriously. I mean, some parts of it are pretty serious, just don't be all like 'That totally wasn't how it happened who does this chick think she is'. I really don't have any excuse for this or anyone else to blame it on, so this is entirely my fault.

Small parts clicked almost silently against each other, sending vague echoes rippling throughout a mostly empty space. Oddly articulated hands were twisting, their fingers laying over each other in a way that only humans had ever previously attained. They were producing a louder, more definite sound from another object by the process of slowly turning a key. The box-shaped object clicked a little and began to play gentle, enchanting music, which rapidly became the only audible noise in the darkening space.

            “Chiaki…” A voice whispered from nearby, crackling like aluminum foil being crumpled. The creature it was addressing turned in the direction of the sound with a series of movements too slow and staggered to be human. It gazed at the other, who was hovering not too far away, with abnormally bright eyes. “You don’t have to do that anymore, you know.” The crackling voice continued. “We have someone to do that now. “A…Another night person.”

            “Mmm.” The thing that was apparently Chiaki hummed, like an old radiator. “But they won’t put him to sleep (Zzm); they don’t (M-mm) get here early enough.”

            “He should put himself to sleep eventually anyway.” Chiaki’s correspondent replied. “Regardless of all that, you should get out of here.”

            “Zzz, do you not trust me to be alone with him?” Chiaki’s feminine-toned voice was frequently interjected with odd humming and buzzing sounds, while the one she was talking to spoke clearly and fluidly.

            “No.” Her more masculine-voiced conversation partner answered. “I don’t trust _him_.”

            “Well (Zze), he can’t mm-move alone, and I’ve been in her-rrr-r-e many times before.” Chiaki stuttered.

            “Come on.” The silhouette ordered, beckoning with his right hand. “Let’s get back to the stage. The night person will be here soon.” Chiaki cast a glance behind her, her eyes flickering in a manner akin to that of a television losing signal. “He’s asleep.” The other reassured her.

            “I can never tell.” Chiaki declared. “E-v-v-en when he’s asleep, he’s still r-running a lot of (Mme) weird functions. It bothers me.”

            “We should leave him alone.” The other urged. “If we wake him up, he’ll be even worse.” Chiaki finally moved, walking in a stoic, jerky fashion to where the other was standing. She still looked back over her shoulder one last time, pulling awkwardly at the bib tied around her neck. A nearly inaudible shifting sound came from the same direction as the music, followed by a quiet muttering in tune with said music. "Chiaki!" The voice from earlier hissed. Chiaki turned back to him and gestured for him to be quiet.

            “Hhhm, he’s singing.” Chiaki whispered. Sure enough, in the night’s dead silence, a small, deep voice was accompanying the music box’s tiny song. "He's singing in his sleep..."

           " _Ninety years without slumbering..._ " The first line heard, soft and rhythmic, after the word 'sleep' passed Chiaki's lips. " _His life seconds numbering..."_

          "It stopped short - N-never to go again..." Chiaki hummed.

          " _When the old man died_." At this point, Chiaki finally left for the show stage with the other she had been speaking to.

          "Was he really asleep?" He asked, glancing at Chiaki. In that moment, it seemed utterly impossible for her to have truly been 0% organic material. The look on her face was one of profound sadness, the likes of which had never been seen on a robot before or since.

          "Mm, no." Chiaki answered. "He's never asleep."


	2. Put on Your Doll Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of boring. This story will pick up, I swear.

_Uhh_ , _hello? Hello-hello! Welcome to your new summer job at Mr. Monobear’s Pizzeria. I’m here to talk to you about what you can expect during your first week here at our new and improved location. Now, I want you to forget anything you may have heard about our old location. Some people out there still have a somewhat negative impression of the company, but I want to reassure you that we are committed to family fun, and above all, safety._

_And, in addition, as company policy states, I’m obliged to remind you that while the performing robots here may look and sometimes act very much like humans, you can rest assured that they are not - whole or in part - human, and they contain no biological material whatsoever. As you can assume, robots like this are pretty hard to come by, and the new owner spent a small fortune on them. Not only are they rigged with the ability to move freely, they have several other unique functions: uhh, vocal communication, fully articulated bodies, and even facial recognition. Yeah, they’re supposedly tapped into some sort of criminal database; they can spot a predator a mile away. That being said, the system is still pretty new, and we've got a lot of things going on in here right now, so there may be a few, uh, bugs to work out._

_Y’know, you’re only the second person to work in that office. The first person who worked back there finished their whole week, but still complained about… conditions. Their main concern, aside from the lack of closable doors and the open air vents-We’re working on those, but like I said, there’s a lot scheduled for this week, so… Well, you've got a flashlight, and the building can’t run out of power, so there’s that… Anyway, the previous night guard expressed rather strong concern about some of the characters roaming around at night and even attempting to enter the office. Now, by all means, that should be impossible, or at the very least irrational. Aggressive behavior should not occur - By all accounts, those should be the friendliest robots in the world - but the other guard did make it a point to say that the robots’ behavior was slightly… offensive. Something about the animatronics seeing you as an endoskeleton without its costume on, or their facial recognition glitching in night-vision mode…_

_Uhh, we’re trying to get the guy who programmed those robots down here to take a look at them, but he’s caught up in the middle of a big project somewhere else right now. He said he’d be down in anywhere from three to seven days, depending on how long his current project takes. So, hopefully, he’ll get here soon, and we’ll get whatever this bug is worked out. Until then, we've built up an easy little plan that should keep you safe from any potentially dangerous system glitches. First off, uh, you may have noticed that there’s a little music box over on the prize counter. It’s set up to be wound remotely, so you don’t have to worry about running back and forth or leaving your post unattended. It doesn't affect all of the animatronics, but it does affect… one of them. It’s just better to keep it wound up to avoid any unpleasant surprises…_

_Anyway, the other part of your easy protection plan should be right there under your desk. It’s a little doll-face mask that you can put on whenever you want, for as long as you want. It goes over your whole face, and uh, it even has little ears that sit on top of your head. If the robots see you wearing it, they’ll just recognize you as one of them and should wander back out fairly quickly. The only downside is that it has reflector lenses over the eyeholes, which are designed to bounce light back so that your eyes look like theirs. They make it kind of hard to look at the monitors while the mask is on, and also, if the robots see you doing anything like checking your cameras or shining your flashlight down the hallway, they’ll probably get curious and try to investigate why a robot would do human things… Uhh, long story short, they probably don’t fully understand the concept of a mask, so if they see you put it on or are poking at you trying to investigate, they may try to get it off in a less-than-efficient fashion. Worst case scenario, they may end up breaking your neck or poking their fingers into your ears, mouth, or eye sockets._

_But, hey, with any luck, it’ll just be fine. That’s all you really need to know for your first night here: put on the mask, wind up the music box, use your lights, and you should be golden. Have a safe night!_

A remotely-controlled light flickered on, casting smoothly rounded shadows over three static figures perched on the show stage. Two of them had the curvature characteristic of female humans, but the one in the middle was taller and more hard-lined, with shorter and spikier hair. None of them moved a millimeter until the light went off and they were sure they were not being watched. “Hehe, yep,” The one furthest on the left began, its voice as bubbly and feminine as its appearance. “There’s definitely a night person here.”

“Do you think it’s a new one?” The one in the middle asked.

“Mmm, most definitely.” The right one answered. “I think-k the old one’s gonna be here during the day now.”

“Whee!” The first one chirped. “Aren't you excited, guys?”

“Hmm, I don’t know about excited.” The feminine one on her opposite side answered. “What are we going to do what we-e-eh couldn't do bef-fore?”

“Nighttime is our free time!” The first one continued, hopping off the stage. “It’s a boundless stretch of black canvas, to be painted on by our imaginations!” She chuckled at her own eloquence. “We could hide under the tables in the party rooms, or go climbing around in the air ducts, or poke at those weird things in the service room, or prank Izzy again!”

“Ibuki…You've alr-ready pranked Iz-z-z-uru three times in the past seven days.” Her comrade commented. Ibuki put her hands on her hips and beamed.

“I guess I have.” She pronounced. “Let’s see, I braided his hair up all pretty, and put that sticker on his head…”

“And you wound him over his own beams while he was asleep.” The only male among them added.

“Yep!” Ibuki confirmed. “Tee-hee! It took the day humans forever to unwind him! It threw off his equilibrium so bad that he couldn't even form a coherent sentence to tell us that he was going to kill us!”

“That’s not really something to be proud of.” The other girl declared flatly.

“Hajime laughed. Like a hyena!” Ibuki pronounced. The third one turned her head and glared at Hajime.

“It was pretty funny, Chiaki…” Hajime defended. Chiaki frowned as much as a robot could frown.

“You shouldn't just take advantage of him because he can’t move on his own, hmmm.” She lectured. “You never play jokes like that on N-Nagito.”

“That’s not true!” Ibuki retaliated. “We hid his eyeball in Izzy’s basket that one time.”

“Yes, but you were still pranking Iz-zzy at the same time.” Chiaki muttered.

“Alright, alright.” Ibuki bubbled. “But anyway, it’s a new night, and Ibuki’s gonna go explore-With or without you guys.” With that, Ibuki trotted off, whirring quietly as she moved.

“She’s probably going to get into trouble.” Chiaki thought aloud. Hajime nodded slowly.

“When doesn’t she?” He asked rhetorically. A light guitar chord could be heard playing from a distance, accompanied by peculiar humming. These noises were followed by the sound of shuffling and shoving, presumably Ibuki shifting tables and chairs around. “Where do you bet she’s headed?” Hajime questioned.

“Maybe she’s going to find the new night person.” Chiaki pondered. “Or going to play with Izuru’s hair while he’s sleeping again. I should follow her.” She added, stepping quietly off the stage.

“Alright, then.” Hajime declared. “I think I’ll stay here and just hang out for a bit longer.”

“According to my internal clock, we’ve actually been resting for quite a while.” Chiaki informed him.

“I’ll go check on Mikan later.” Hajime continued, ignoring Chiaki’s statement. “She freaks out at night sometimes.” Suddenly, the sound of creaking metal came echoing in from one of the hallway rooms. “What was that?” Hajime hissed, his eyes lighting up.

“It was probably Ibuki.” Chiaki called as she trotted off. “Tearing off the vent grate.” Ibuki was very high-energy, and while she was generally friendly, she was prone to becoming a little bit _too_ excited in certain situations. Chiaki was afraid that she would scare the living hell out of the new night person, especially if she was climbing through the air vents to get to the office. She wasn’t exactly the smartest among them, nor the most patient. The most active, yes. Even during the day, she ran all over the place.

Chiaki made her way towards the main hallway, her eyes reverting from their standard ‘human eye’ appearance. The other robots had large, round eyeballs mirroring those of a human, which were also gyroscopic. Chiaki’s eyes were convex lenses rooted into her exoskeleton, and their ‘eye’ appearance was simply a design projected from her internal structure onto the transparent surface. This experimental technology seemed frivolous, but it did have a purpose. It kept her eyes from falling out, which was a legitimate concern for the others. If their eyes were removed, it was theoretically possible to access the infrastructure without opening their head panels, making it easier to tamper with them or accidentally damage them from the outside.

Chiaki’s lens-eyes also allowed direct connection to the optic sensors, making Chiaki’s vision better and her response system faster. The only downside was that, in low light, when her night vision activated, the projection shut off. Her programming only responded to two entries for [Projection:], which were ‘/humaneye’ and ‘/novalue’. ‘Novalue’ displayed nothing but a green zero in the center of each eye lens, as well as the natural spots of white light which indicated that her eyes were on. Whenever [Visionmode:] was changed to ‘/nightvision’, either manually or automatically based on light detection, [Projection:] was changed to ‘/novalue’. It was one of many not-yet-explained system bugs. Chiaki didn't mind it, but that was because she was a robot and hadn't yet had any adverse response to her value-less eyes that would provoke her to be concerned on the matter.

Chiaki accessed her system coding, finding that her eyes were indeed in no-value mode. If anything besides her two projection functions appeared under the [Projection:] entry, her System Error Protocols automatically displayed ‘Error’ in red letters on each eye. There were actually two projection entries, [Projection /left:] and [Projection /right:]. Theoretically, they could display different things at the same time, but at that would require fairly heavy system tampering.

The door to party room 2 was open when Chiaki passed it, so she stuck her head in. The grate covering the main air vent had been forcibly torn away and was lying haphazardly on the floor. A loud banging sound echoed from its gaping entrance, clearly resonating from somewhere much further down. “Mm, yep, it was Ibuki.” Chiaki whispered under her breath. “She’s going to get there before I do, no matter what.” Chiaki retracted herself back into the darkened hallway. All of a sudden, the entire length of the hall was bathed in white light, reflecting off of Chiaki’s smooth, molded exterior. Chiaki could see that there was, indeed, someone or something perched like a sparrow in that vulnerable office position. Chiaki smiled at the night person, flourishing a plate in one hand. It wasn't actually attached to her hand, it just looked like it.

Ibuki was clambering through the air vent, her deceptively heavy body making a large amount of noise. The night person was spastically flashing the vent lights at her, which mildly bothered her. “Night people are weird.” She muttered. Her voice was carried through the narrow metal passageway, distorted from echoing by the time it reached the night person’s ears. “Oh well.” She said to herself.

“Hellloooo!” She tried to greet enthusiastically as she poked her head out of the vent’s open entrance. “Wait just a memento…” She added, something about this night person not quite adding up. Ibuki unfolded her lanky body, her senses now automatically tuned to this strange thing before her. “Hello?” She called again, walking up to the desk in her typical noisy, robotic fashion. “Can you even hear me?”

Whatever it was did not seem able to hear her. It sat very still, but was making some sort of noise. Ibuki’s auditory processing system was unable to decipher it as language; it was received as more of heavy breathing or panting from exhaustion. Ibuki approached it and gently poked its face with her index finger. It did not offer flesh-like resistance, but was instead hard and static. Ibuki balled up her hand and knocked on it delicately. The thing remained stiff and tense but did not move. “You look like Hajime.” Ibuki commented. “What’s up with you?” She asked, backing off a little. It did not respond. “Alright, alright. I see how it is.” Ibuki said, crossing her arms and smiling a little. “Well, if you ever need to talk to someone… Come talk to Ibuki!” She squealed, trotting back off down the hallway.

Chiaki was still there, moving forward slowly, trying to give the night person time to respond to her presence. “That thing? Totally weird.” Ibuki informed her as she passed by. Meanwhile, the night guard cautiously removed their mask and took a deep breath, allowing their body to tremble as madly as they felt it should. “It looks like Hajime in a night person’s outfit. It might be deaf, too. Or it’s broken.” Ibuki continued. “I’m gonna go back into one of the party rooms and see if anybody left behind something shiny.”

Meanwhile, in another region, a dark, lean form was struggling against an invisible assailant. It began to thrash rather madly, though its eyes were completely closed. It raised what could only have been hands to what could only have been a head, sinking its fingers through long, shadowy wisps of hair. Its world was nothing but static and constant, painful interference. Whatever was occurring within its mechanisms was clearly unpleasant, and a sound that resembled grinding gears choked the air around it. All of a sudden, its eyes opened like a splitting skull, a visage of white and vibrant red. All fell silent.

It discovered that it had autonomously raised itself into a standing position. The eyes that had just punctured the darkness with their crimson light had what was almost a misty distortion to them, splendidly accompanying the independent shifting of his hair.

Tinny notes of music drifted into the central hallway, firing up Chiaki and Ibuki’s senses. Ibuki giggled, with her body already halfway inside one of the party rooms. She matched the sharp, light notes on her guitar, which was a rather discordant accompaniment. “All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel…” She sang, though very quietly. Chiaki turned her body to face the hallway entrance, clearly far more concerned than Ibuki was. “The monkey thought it was all in fun… Pop goes the weasel!” The music drew nearer and nearer. “A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle, (C’mon Chiaki!)”

“That’s the way the money goes.” Chiaki continued, hardly singing at all.

“Pop goes the weasel!” Ibuki practically cackled as a fast-moving, dark shape sped past her. Chiaki thrust her hand into the darkness, and, though it was mostly luck, caught it.

“Let go of me.” It uttered in a barely intelligible, garbled voice. It sounded quite like its voice box was broken.

“Really, Chiaki?” Ibuki chuckled.

“He’d hhh-hurt the night person.” Chiaki declared. “I don’t want him to do that, zzm.”

“I demand you let go of me.” The strange, lean thing Chiaki had ahold of continued to growl.

“Shhh.” Chiaki whirred. “You’re just s-sleepy. You n-nh-eed to go back to bed now.”

“No!” It attempted to scream. “I will tear them down, that vile thing…” The hallway was abruptly filled with light once again, which seemed to reset the struggling thing in Chiaki's hand. "I... I..." It panted, its eye lights changing from red to white. The night person made a loud sound of distress. "I will..." Its voice sounded normal now, no longer disturbingly altered. It seemed to go limp and stopped struggling entirely.

"You will go back to bed." Ibuki finished.

"And y-y-you will take him." Chiaki ordered.

"Why me?" Ibuki complained. "No that I wouldn't do it, of course, but you've already got him."

"Hhem, I need to talk to the night person." Chiaki explained. "It-t is important." Ibuki promptly took the thing from Chiaki and draped it over her shoulder.

"Uff, you're heavier than you look." She commented.

"I hate you." It mumbled.

"If I had a shiny thing for every time I'd heard you say that..." Ibuki laughed. She made her way back to the main room, scanning the darkness. "Hajime's not on the stage anymore." She noticed. "He doesn't move a lot."

"If I could move outside of my ravenous waking state, I would hurt you." A deep voice snarled from over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ibuki said, rolling her eyes. "Ah, there's Hajime." She declared, making her way over to him. He was standing idly in the game area, beside another animatronic who was quivering slightly. "Hajimmmeee!" Ibuki called, waving with her free hand.

"Ibuki?" Hajime greeted, cocking his head. "Is that - Oh, it's Izzy."

"Do _not_ call me that!" Izuru raved.

"He's cranky." Ibuki declared. "He needs to go back in his basket. The night person forgot to keep his music on. Is Mikan okay?"

"She's fine." Hajime answered, glancing towards the robot in question. "Just a little twitchy. Where's Chiaki?"

"She's going to have a talk with the night person." Ibuki said,  walking ahead with Izuru draped over her shoulder. She trotted briskly to the prize corner, where she laid Izuru back down into what appeared to be a crib. She hooked his strings back into the surface notches that were visible at his joints, ignoring the ultimate death glare he was giving her. She heard the music box begin to crank itself, and she peered at it curiously. "The night person is doing that." She marveled. The music box began to play its now-familiar tune, which immediately entranced Izuru. "Go back to sleep." She whispered, petting Izuru's thick hair.

"I will... destroy you..." Izuru yawned, succumbing to overwhelming tiredness.

"Of course you will." Ibuki chuckled softly.

Chiaki had made her way down the hall and was now in the night person's office. "Hey-hey." She called, albeit very quietly. "Are you okay?" Once again, the night person did not respond. Chiaki leaned over and tapped the night person's eye lenses with her index finger. She followed by laying her hand on the night person's chest, seeking signs of life. "No, you're not a robot." She said. "Anyway, (Zzt) I don't know if you can un-nn-derstand me, or even hh-hear me, but I need to talk to you." The night person was silent, except for the sound of deep, strained breathing. "Y-you have to keep Izuru asleep, hmm, because I don't know if I'll be able to st-top him next time. Also, we're n-not trying to (Mmeh) hurt you at all. If you ever, h-hey, want to talk to us, you can." Chiaki tilted her head, giving the night person a final once-over. "It's almost daytime." She said. "I should leave." With that, she turned about and walked back towards the hallway, turning around to give one final "Goodbye." Hajime was in the hallway at this point.

"Did you catch Izzy?" He asked with concern. Chiaki nodded, and Hajime turned his gaze back to the office. He waved at the night person without speaking, blinking in the now-growing light.

The six a.m. bell rang not long after.


	3. Newcomers to Play With Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whee, another chapter. In this one, we meet Mikan and Nagito, as well as some new friends hiding in Parts & Service. The night person finally has dialogue, sort of.

_Uh, hello? Hello? See, I told you that the first night wouldn't be a problem. You’re doing great. By now I’m sure that you've noticed the older models sort of strewn about in that back room. Those were from the old location, and we just use them for parts now. The original idea was to fix those ones up and use them here instead of making new ones. They even started retrofitting them with the new technology, but, uh, they were just too… ugly, and clunky, and too generic, y’know. And they were in pretty severe disrepair, probably hadn't been cleaned since they were made. Also, back before even those ones were made, they were originally slated to just look like animals. Yeah, they thought that idea was overdone, too Americanized, and uh, it didn't really utilize the full range of technology we have access to now. So, they decided to scrap those designs and just make them look as human as possible. They still gave most of them little mechanical animal ears and tails, since that whole catboy-ish thing is pretty popular nowadays. They didn't look nearly as human as the new ones, though, so they were… Well, pretty creepy looking, honestly._

_Anyway, those old ones shouldn't be able to get up and walk around, but if they do, the same tactics you've been using should still work on them. Uhh, another thing you may have noticed, or, uh, you may not have, would be the ‘extras’ hiding back there with the old animatronics. There should only be two of them, at least as far as I know. Well, I mean, if the ones from the old location can’t walk, those ones definitely can’t. They were, uh, animatronics that were built here at the new location with specific purposes, but they didn't get put out for one reason or another. They've been worked on recently, so, uh, that’s the only real reason I have to address them. Like I said before, we haven’t gotten the guy who programmed those things down here yet, but we do have one of the engineers, so he’s been taking out the extras and fiddling with them. Because of this, there *is* a slight chance that they’re capable of performing basic functions such as walking and responding to stimuli._

_I think the only ones we have back there were both built as sort of backup security guards. The uh, original intention was to keep them out and not have any need for a security guard at all. As you can tell, that didn't quite work out. The first one… Oh, jeez. I-if he gets up, you’ll know it. He weighs as much as a large car, and he could probably throw a truck or break down a wall without any strain whatsoever. Honestly, he scares me a bit. Unfortunately, he was the most expensive animatronic they made, so the owner is doing everything in his power to make sure that his money wasn't wasted. This robot’s exoskeleton alone cost thousands of dollars. It’s over three inches thick and is pretty much unbreakable. On top of that, this thing’s over six feet tall, and its shoulders are probably longer across than I am tall. The first thing you’d notice about him is that he just looks like a robot, not a human like the other ones. I think he was supposed to be a cat or something. Yeah, a robot cat._

_To counteract how dangerous he could potentially become, they programmed him to be exceptionally friendly. So, if he sees you, uh, the first thing he’d probably try to do would be run right down there and give you a big hug. Unfortunately, he’s probably glitchier than all get-out right now, so he might not really have any concept of… restraint. If that’s the case, then he might, uh, hug you a bit too hard, and accidentally end up crushing your rib cage, your spinal cord, and subsequently numerous important internal organs such as your heart, lungs, and liver._

_That other one is a whole lot smaller, but she’s not exactly friendly. I-I don’t even know what she was, a dog or a wolf or something. Uh, she’s got a sword… Anyway, you probably don’t want to meet her either, and there’s no guaranteeing that the mask you've got there will work on her at all. So, my advice is this: don’t shine that light in the back room too much. It’s what’s most likely to trigger them into waking up. I don’t know about the old ones, but you’re honestly probably better off with those ones than with the ‘extras’. The one that I would watch out for, uhh, among the old ones, is the red-haired one. I don’t remember what they called him at the old location; I think it was, uh, Foxy? Yeah, Foxy. He was always pretty twitchy, even back then. If you happen to see him down the hallway, just shine your light at him a couple times. That should reset his system…_

            A long, limber form uncurled from its static position on the floor, stretching out with a chorus of popping, clicking and cracking sounds. Its jaw hung open, revealing teeth that were a bit too sharp to be human, and one of its eye sockets was dark and empty. It placed its hands against a nearby wall, managing to get a good grip on it, and scrambled along the wall until it was attached to the ceiling. It skittered over the ceiling, crawling through the doorway in a manner akin to that of a spider. Once in the next room, it lowered itself a little, eyes fixed on some unknown object in the darkness from which odd mechanical sounds were emanating. That little corner suddenly flooded with light, as many areas had the previous night. The thing on the ceiling turned in the light’s direction, smiling at where he knew the camera was.

            _Also, don’t forget to wind that music box. I’ll be honest; I never really liked that marionette thing they've got over there. It’s just… Not like the others, y’know? It’s always… thinking. J-just keep the music box wound up, okay? Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be no problem. Have a good night, and I’ll talk to you again tomorrow._

The strange thing on the ceiling lowered itself a little, leaning down over what was affectionately referred to as ‘Izzy’s basket’. “Izuru?” It buzzed softly. Izuru did not respond. “The night person’s taking care of you, I see. Anyway, I know you hate me, but… sweet dreams.” It turned and scampered off along the ceiling, in the direction of the game area. “Mikan?” It called. “Mikan? H-Hajime? Ibuki?”

            “Hi.” An equally soft voice replied.

            “Mikan? Where are you?” The spidery creature asked the endless darkness.

            “I’m over here.” Mikan answered, waving. “What are you doing here, Nagito? Did you know that we… we have a different night person now?”

            “No.” Nagito declared. “Have you seen it?”

            “Well, umm, no, b-but Chiaki and Ibuki and Hajime have…” Mikan stuttered. “And I think Izuru might have too, he did wake up last night…”

            “Why didn’t you go see it?”

            “Well, uh, I-I’m just afraid that the new night person might hate me…” Mikan whispered. “L-like the last one.”

            “I’m sure they won’t hate you.” Nagito reassured her. “They have no reason to. C’mon, let’s go talk to them.”

            “Ah, alright.” Mikan mumbled, starting to walk off. “I don’t like that hallway; there are too many sounds in there at night… Eee, I think I’ll just find the air vent, and go that way…” Nagito stayed behind and lolled about for a moment. His mechanical ears perked up at a noise coming from the direction of the show stage.

            “Gooooddd evening, Monobear’s pizzeria!” A cheerful voice called as it sprinted off down the hall. It was undoubtedly Ibuki on some strange, silly adventure. Nagito swung after her.

            Meanwhile, the night person was behaving erratically. _Shine the light in the back room. Wait, no. Don’t shine the light in the back room. Crap, which one was it?_ Their mind was haunted by visions of massive, lumbering, broken creatures hauling themselves out of that freaky back room and into the office, their minds set only on death. Bubbly laughter resounded from an unknown source. “Who’s laughing?” The night person practically screeched. “Did… Did I hallucinate that?” The night person shone their flashlight down the seemingly endless hallway, getting a clear view of Nagito’s pale, distorted body, which was hanging halfway off the wall. One of his hands was collapsed in a waving position instead of clinging to the wall, which the night person didn't know was because that hand didn't work very well. The night person made a very unhappy face, and a vocalization that Nagito’s language processing program read as “ _What’re you?!?!?”_

            _Analysis: Distressed._ Nagito gazed at the night person with increasing concern. The core of his programming was to make people happy, no matter what, and this night person was very unhappy.

            “Hello.” Mikan called from the air duct. Her voice carried through it, and the night person heard her loud and clear. Nagito heard her as well, and he turned his head upright.

            “Goodnight-goodnight!” A much louder, more invasive voice heralded from the opposite side of the room. “Hehe, see? I’m doing what sooo many other people have been doing lately and saying my greeting twice!” Ibuki rolled herself out of the right vent and stood upright. “Did you miss me?” She asked. “I know you don’t talk much.” Ibuki walked past the night person, who had fortunately put their mask on. “Do you have as… ass… whatever that thing is called that makes you have, like, breathing attacks?” The night person continued to sense the mood and refrain from speaking, just recycling the same air within their mask. “Because if you do, you should see Mikan. She’s programmed with an entire medical database, just FYI. Anyway, you look busy. Should I go now? Ah, I’ll go anyway. I’m sure someone else wants to talk to you.” Ibuki strode off once more, waving goodbye to the night person.

            “Hello, Ibuki.” Nagito greeted as she entered the long hallway.

            “Keeeee? Nagito, you’re here already!” Ibuki giggled. “I don’t even know where everybody else is. How are we doing this fine night?”

            “Good, I guess.” Nagito replied. “But the night person seems very distressed.”

            “I don’t know what’s up with it.” Ibuki sighed. “It’s like it can’t hear me at all, seriously. Chiaki said the same thing earlier today. It won’t respond, it just sits there and breathes funny. Anyway, I have important things to do.”

            “By important, you mean mess with something you probably shouldn't be messing with?” Nagito joked.

            “Hmm, maybe.” Ibuki teased back, not looking over her shoulder as she trotted down the hallway.

            Mikan stuck her head out of the left air vent slowly and with extreme caution. “Umm, hello?” She stuttered quietly. “Are you the night person?” The night person turned to look at her, but did not make a sound. “Heh, I-I don’t mean to bother you… I’m Mikan, and I don’t really do much here, I just hand out balloons during the day. I’m the only one with a medical database, and I know how to handle most basic first aid situations. So, if you need help, just find me! I-If I’m bothering you, you can tell me to leave, okay? You don’t want me here, do you? I’ll leave right now, so please don’t hate me!” Mikan shuffled off awkwardly, missing the night person’s curious glance from beneath their mask.

            Meanwhile, Ibuki slid discreetly into the parts and service room, while the light flickered on and off erratically. “Man, the night person sure is being weird.” She thought aloud. A loud, abrupt creaking sound caught her attention, and she turned on a dime to face the half-wall in the middle of the room. With pained, aching movements, a very large and very intimidating creature lumbered out from behind the wall.

            “He-he-hello, children!” It creaked. Ibuki stepped back.

            “Who are you?” She questioned, tilting her head

            “I’m N-Nekomaru, Nekomaru.” Whatever this thing was, it was talking very strangely. “Playful-p-playful guardian!”

            “You sound like a remix!” Ibuki exclaimed. “I could put some music to that. Wait, hang on a second…” Ibuki jumped out into the hallway. “Guys!” She shouted. “Nagito! Mikan! Chiaki! I found… someone!” Behind her, something that was not Nekomaru whirred and buzzed. “Maybe a few someones!” She added. Nagito came swinging over, and Chiaki followed suit on the ground.

            “Hhuh, what did you find?” Chiaki asked, almost desperately. Ibuki gestured for them to follow. “Hajime?” Chiaki sought, looking down the first hallway.

            “Yes?” Hajime requested. Mikan scuttled past him and stood beside Chiaki.

            “Distract the night person. We have something to do.” Chiaki ordered. She, Nagito, and Mikan followed Ibuki into the back room, albeit slowly.

            When they entered, a stranger pointed a sword at Ibuki’s chest. Her eyes were strangely red, and her joints seemed to be slightly out of alignment.

            “Hey, umm, yeah…” Ibuki muttered. “Excuse me, ma’am?”

            “Who are you?” The weird robot asked. “Why are you here?”

            “I’m Ibuki, and I’m part of the mechanical band.”

            “You are a machine?” The newcomer questioned interrogatively.

            “Yeah… All of us are.” Ibuki replied, staring down at the sword pressed against her breast area. The unknown animatronic pulled her sword away and sheathed it.

            “Then you are no threat.” She declared. The other, larger robot, who had previously introduced himself as Nekomaru, grabbed Ibuki and embraced her.

            Meanwhile, Hajime sauntered down the hall until he was practically in the office’s doorway, all the while observing the night person closely.

            “Who are you two?” Chiaki asked, scanning both of them thoroughly. “I don’t recognize you at all. I’m not synced to your signals either.”

            “I’m Nekomaru. N-Nekomaru-maru.” Nekomaru stuttered. “Playful guardian-an-an-n.”

            “That’s fascinating.” Ibuki said. “But can you put me down?” Nekomaru opened his arms and let Ibuki fall to the floor. The other one hauled her to her feet immediately.

            “I am Peko. Defender.” She pronounced.

            “So both of you are meant to be guards?” Nagito asked softly.

            “That is correct. Correct.” Nekomaru answered.

            “They must be.” Chiaki reasoned. “They’re defective, mmm, I think. Or unfinished.”

            “Weirdness aside, they’re pretty cool.” Ibuki commented, putting her arm around Peko’s shoulder.

            “You are displaying signs of physical affection towards me, but we have only just met each other.” Peko noted.

            “Teehee, you’re our friends now! Welcome to the family!” Ibuki bubbled.

            “Family.” Peko repeated, putting her arm around Ibuki in a similar manner.

            “Friends!” Nekomaru exclaimed. “We are f-friends!” He picked up Chiaki and hugged her tightly.

            “Friendship aside…” Chiaki began, coaxing Nekomaru into releasing her. “You two probably shouldn't wander around this place. You’re not fully functional yet.” Nagito leaned down from the ceiling and hugged Nekomaru’s shoulders with one arm. “Especially Peko. From the looks of it, your endoskeleton isn't properly rigged to your exterior. You could end up damaging yourself if you run around too much.”

            “So we are supposed to stay back here?” Peko retaliated.

            “For now, yes.” Chiaki answered. “The humans will fix you up soon enough, and then-n you can come out and join us. During the day, too.”

            “So, what are you supposed to be?” Ibuki asked, poking at Peko’s mechanical ears.

            “My tail and ears are modeled after those of a domestic dog.” Peko declared. “The rest of me is modeled after a human body.”

            “Nekomaru has a tail.” Ibuki noted. “I think he’s a cat.”

            “That is correct.” Nekomaru affirmed.

            “It’s 6 a.m. already.” Chiaki said. “The night person should be leaving any minute now. The day people will be here shortly thereafter.” As she spoke, Hajime entered the room behind her. Nekomaru rushed forward and embraced Hajime, just as he had all the previous animatronics.

            “Err, what did I miss here?” Hajime thought aloud.

            “Haha, another friend! Another-another friend!” Nekomaru cried joyously.

            “These are incomplete guardian animatronics.” Chiaki explained. “Nekomaru, the one who’s attached to you right now, and Peko, who is still touching Ibuki.”

            “Should I not be touching her?” Peko asked.

            “Heh, we’re friends now, Peko-Peko!” Ibuki cheered. “You can touch me as much as you want!” Chiaki gave Ibuki a strange look.

            “I will remember that.” Peko said, with absolutely no change in expression. Nekomaru was attempting to nuzzle Hajime, who he had not yet let go of.

            “He’s, uhh, friendly, isn't he?” Hajime chuckled awkwardly.

            “Yes, I-I am.” Nekomaru declared. “I am programmed-ammed to be exception-exception-exceptionally… I am programmed to be exceptionally friendly, except to those who threaten my friends.”

            “Well, anyway, mmh, you two need to stay back here if you wake up. If something happens, come get us.” Chiaki instructed. “But don’t zzs-scare the night person.”

            “There’s a person in the building?” Peko questioned, her red eyes glittering.

            “There should be a max-maximum of one nighttime se-se-security guard in the building between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.” Nekomaru answered. “According to my m-my radio clock, it is past 6 a.m. already.”

            “The night person just left.” Hajime added.

            “Do Nekomaru and Peko-Peko really have to stay back here with all these creepy things?” Ibuki asked, gazing at the broken humanoid robots that had been strewn around the back room.

            “I can deal with creepy things.” Peko said flatly.

            “But, like, what if they get up too?” Ibuki continued, approaching one of the dismantled animatronics. It appeared feminine, but it was difficult to tell, as the robot’s face was bound by what appeared to be bandages. Only her lower jaw, hanging open limply, was visible, brandishing a row of metal teeth. Her left arm was gone, and all that remained of it were several wires and cords. She was slumped against the wall, with her knees together and her arm at her side. Her rabbit ears were still somehow affixed to her head.

            “What even is that thing?” Nagito wondered.

            “Why is she wearing bandages?” Mikan asked, in her typical quiet, soft voice.

            “Those, hmm…” Chiaki began. “Those bandages are probably just to protect the machine parts in her head.”

            “She has blue hair…” Ibuki muttered in an awed tone. “It must be attached to whatever’s left of her outer head casing. Ecch, these things are weird.”

            “Mmne, we should go soon.” Chiaki warned. “The day people will arrive pretty soon, bzzt, you guys. We can leav-ve Peko and Nekomaru here. They’ll be alright. Nekomaru, please let go of Hajime, hmm.” Nekomaru opened his arms and released Hajime’s smaller, frailer body. Chiaki waved goodbye to their new comrades, leading her older comrades outside.

            “High five!” Ibuki requested, holding her hand up for Peko. Peko just stared at her. “Do you not know how to high five? Just slap my hand.” Peko did so, but rather forcefully. “Not quite that hard, sweetie.” Ibuki chuckled. Peko tentatively raised her hand and high-fived Ibuki in a less violent manner. “You got it, girl!” Ibuki encouraged. Peko nodded solemnly.

            “I will remember the command ‘high five’.” She buzzed. Nekomaru held up his hand, and Ibuki high-fived him too. Nagito accompanied her from the above.

            “Chiaki, Hajime, come here.” Ibuki beckoned. “I want to see if we can fit all of our hands on Nekomaru’s.” Chiaki, Hajime, and Mikan all put their hands together.

            “Sort of.” Hajime said. Peko cautiously reached over and placed her hand on the back of Nekomaru’s.

            “Keep rockin’, big guy!” Ibuki laughed, removing her hand from the mix. The mechanical band then filed out the door, along with Mikan, expert balloon dispenser, and Nagito, expert children’s toy. Ibuki waved one last time as she walked out, watching Peko and Nekomaru settle back down in the corner. “See you tomorrow night-Or, technically, _to_ night-hopefully.”


	4. Don't Wanna Go Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short. The fourth night will be longer, but there's an interlude first.

_Uh, hello-hello? The extras didn’t come out, right? Because, uhh, one of the employees said they were on when he went back there yesterday morning. They probably activated after you left, though. I-I wouldn’t worry about it. On a similar note, did Foxy ever show up in the hallway? Probably not. I was just wondering. They did make a new model based on him, y’know. They thought the old one was too scary, and too intimidating, so they completely redesigned him. They put him over in the Kids’ Cove, as something to keep the toddlers and the really little kids entertained. But you know how kids are these days, they uh, just can’t keep their hands to themselves, can they? They kept taking the new one apart -Nagito is his name – and it got to the point where the staff had to practically reassemble him after every shift. Eventually they sorta gave up and left him as some kind of ‘take apart and put back together’ attraction. Now he’s mostly just a mess of parts. You’ll see that there’s a rift in his outer covering, right about his collarbone area, with an exposed rod beneath it. Yeah, the kids just tore right into him. Uh, also, you might have noticed that one of his hands isn’t actually *his* hand. The kids took it off one day, and the staff over in Kids’ Cove couldn’t find it at all. Some undisciplined kid, or maybe an angry older sibling probably stole it. We always get a couple of angry teens and preteens coming in here… Most of them aren’t too fond of the animatronics._

_Anyway, the boss didn’t really put up a fuss about it, just got another hand from one of the old robots. I’m not quite sure which, though. Nagito’s hand has those long, red fingernails, and as far as I know, none of the original four had hands like that. Must’ve been a spare from the old place or something… Uhh, regardless, he’s still pretty messed up. Some of the employees just refer to him as ‘the Mangle’._

_There is one of the animatronics out there that was programmed as a sort of failsafe for this whole operation. I have no idea which one it is. Very few people aside from our expert programmer do know; the only information that’s been disclosed about it is that it’s one of the ‘main three’. Those would be Hajime, Chiaki, and Ibuki. Now, whichever one it is, that particular robot has a whole lot of special functions that the other ones don’t have. They have access to the building’s mainframe, which includes your computer as well as all the lights and cameras in the building. They’re also linked to all the other animatronics’ signals, so they can detect what state they’re in. They can read their own internal code, and alter it if they so happen to come into contact with some sort of virus or malfunction. It can also potentially reset all of the other animatronics, and maybe even wipe their databases. Now, this animatronic poses no threat to you at all, but if something were to happen, it would know, possibly even before you._

_Again, this isn’t really important to you, but uh, it’s just a good thing to know if you work here. Uhh, also, I’d like to talk to you regarding any rumors you may have heard about this place. Y’know, local legends come and go, and they seldom have any real meaning to them._ _Anything going on out there, no matter how tragic, has nothing to do with this business as it is now. Our daytime guard is on constant watch, and no strange reports have come in from that end of things at all._

_Uhh, talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight._

In a dark, half-ruined corner of Mr. Monobear’s pizzeria, a number of huddled shapes were beginning to stir. Barely, but just enough. The first was slumped against the back wall like a murder victim, her lower jaw lolling open and her arms collapsed at her sides. One was nothing but a long mess of ragged wires and cords, and most of her head was bound by coarse bandages. Through a gap in these bindings, a red light flickered and turned on, accompanied by a creaking whirr akin to a humanoid groan.

            To one side of the room, among a mess of cords that hung from the ceiling like jungle vines, there was another one. Her face had been popped apart, revealing steely circles adorned with teeth and collapsed beams. The top and bottom edges, which could once have been called jaws, showed signs of heavy burning. The areas around its eyes were also singed, giving the appearance of macabre makeup. Endlessly that ruined face stared. It had both arms, but no hands. Its wrists were burned, twisted stumps, full of distorted, half-melted wires. It wore a brightly-decorated bib not unlike the one Chiaki usually wore, but this beast’s was tattered and blackened. It had two long, pale braids hanging beside its head, but those too had suffered fire damage. Its (Her, presumably) dress seemed mostly intact, despite the visible damage to so many other parts of her body.

            A third, which appeared masculine but rather small, was lying on the floor, face turned towards the ceiling. His right eye was present, but his left one had been removed out and the area around it torn. It strongly resembled the traditional Monobear left eye, which was seen on all the plushies over in the prize corner. Another rift curved upwards from the left corner of his mouth, half of a Cheshire grin that painted him as a caricature of his own design. His entire exterior was covered with holes, dents, scratches, and splotches. There was obvious damage to the neck area, though it was hard to tell what had caused it. His hair may have been dirty blond at one point, but it had discolored into numerous shades of brown. It had lost any shape it once held, and was now tattered and wispy.

            Lying just out of the camera’s view was a fourth, very tall and long-limbed. There were gaping holes in its exterior, revealing the silvery beams and rigging within. It didn’t have either of its eyes, and one of its hands was a cruel-looking hook. A perpetual sharp-toothed grin was fixed upon its face, despite its state of decay. The colored outer casing on his left leg had been scraped crudely away, revealing the bare metal of his exoskeleton.

            Sinking his hook hand into the wall, the red-haired creature hauled himself to his unsteady feet. In the opposite corner, the burned robot twitched madly, her inner mechanisms clicking against each other. She heaved herself forward in a staggered manner. The red-haired one peered out the door and made an odd screechy noise, which could have been interpreted as an attempt a speech. The other was silent, as she seemed to be incapable of vocalizing. The tall, red-haired creature stepped out into the hallway. The other one seemed to have a more difficult time moving. Behind her, the collapsed one rose to her feet with no shortage of creaking and clanking. She tried to speak, but it sounded more like a groan of death than anything.

            Both the faceless one and the burned one managed to move outside. The burned one looked around, but she seemed to only be capable of pivoting her neck. The broken robot felt at her hanging jaw and bound face, uttering a stammered grunting sound. She eventually crawled into an air vent, hauling herself forward with her good arm.

            Something else was stirring in the parts and service room. Its insides were sliding loosely around within it, as they were not properly affixed to its exoskeleton. It blinked and looked around.

            “Risk detected.” It choked. “Multiple risks detected.”

            Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, Ibuki was already restless and had left the stage. She was making for the game area, hoping Mikan was already active. When she got there, some odd noises were coming from the direction of the Kids’ Cove doorway. It was mostly likely either Nagito getting up or Izuru thrashing in his sleep. “Mika-an?” She said in a singsong-y manner.

            “Ibuki? You’re up already?” Mikan whispered.

            “Yep.” Ibuki replied.

            “I… I’m a little scared.” Mikan admitted. “I don’t really know what’s going on tonight. I’m pretty tired.”

            “Hello.” A voice greeted softly.

            “Chiaki?” Ibuki questioned.

            “And Hajime.” Chiaki added.

            “Welcome to the party.” Ibuki said casually.

            “I don’t know if I feel like roaming right now.” Chiaki stated.

            “Neither do I, really.” Ibuki added. “Just feels like one of those nights, ya know? I just got up to talk to Mikan.”

            “Really? You came down just to talk to me?” Mikan asked. Ibuki nodded.

            “You were handing out balloons like crazy today, girl!” Ibuki cheered. “At that rate, you’d run Birthday Boy right out of business!”

            “Heh, well, it was National Free Balloon Day today.” Mikan explained. “I got to give out a lot of balloons, so I’m happy.”

            “National Free Balloon Day?” Hajime questioned. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing.”

            “Hmm…” Chiaki whirred. “According t-to my internal calendar, mme, it was in fact National Free Balloon Day today.”

            “Kyaa!” Mikan squealed. “The night person! I haven’t given them a balloon yet! I have to go do that right now, so that they won’t hate me!” Mikan trotted off as hastily as she could manage without falling over. However, she emitted a loud and sudden screech before she reached the hallway.

            “Mikan?!?” Chiaki cried. “Are you alright?” The mechanical band sprinted off in Mikan’s direction immediately. Something slightly larger than Ibuki was standing in the hall entrance, and it made almost sickening sounds as it walked their direction.

            “Peko-Peko?” Ibuki called. “What are you doing out here?”

            “You’ll break your endoskeleton if you walk around like that too much.” Chiaki reprimanded.

            “You instructed me to alert you if something was wrong.” Peko countered. “Those weird things have left. The broken robots.”

            “Th-he broken robots are awake?” Mikan squeaked.

            “Three of them are not in the back room.” Peko stated. “They have left.”

            “They’ve left? H-hey, where did they go?” Chiaki inquired.

            “I do not know.” Peko answered.

            “I have to go look for th-them.” Chiaki said, narrowing her eyes in determination. “Mikan, you can keep heading to the office. They shouldn’t hurt you, even if you do see them.”

            “A-alright.” Mikan replied, her voice even softer than usual. “Good luck, Chiaki.”

            “Peko, you should stay in the back room.” Chiaki ordered. “You’re not fixed yet.” Peko nodded. “Ibuki, Hajime, you can go back there with her if you want too. If you do, make sure that she and Nekomaru stay put."

            “I'll walk Peko back to her room.” Ibuki laughed, draping Peko’s arm over her neck.

            “Do I have a choice?” Hajime asked semi-rhetorically.

            “You could stay here and watch Iz-zuru and Nagito.” Chiaki offered.

            “I’ll go with Ibuki.” Hajime declined. Chiaki took off down the hall, Mikan following cautiously in her footsteps. Ibuki and Hajime supported Peko as they brought up the rear.

            The faceless, bandaged animatronic was in the office. The night person threw on their mask and prayed silently for their life. She seized the mask and pulled it off, and the night person closed their eyes and braced for the worst. However, as they slowly opened their eyes, she had disappeared. With trembling hands, they picked the mask up off the floor. “Where’d she go?” They breathed. She was nowhere to be seen.

            Mikan made her way to the right air vent’s entrance, holding a green balloon on a short string. She crawled into it as Ibuki, Peko, and Hajime entered the parts and service room.

            “Eww, there’s still one in here.” Hajime said, slightly off-put by the thing lying on the floor.

            “He looks a little like you.” Ibuki commented. Hajime glared at her. “I mean, if you were broken and decaying.”

            “And half my size.” Hajime muttered.

            “Will you two stop arguing and put me down?” Peko growled. They slowly lowered her to the floor, where she sat down without a fuss.

            “Hello-hello-hello, ch-chi-children.” Nekomaru stuttered madly.

            “Good to see ya, big guy.” Ibuki said cheerfully. She glanced over her shoulder. “Where do you bet Chiaki is?” She asked in a lower voice.

            Chiaki was in the hallway. She was looking around for the other two who had allegedly gotten out. The blue-haired one she had already met, and kindly advised it to go back to sleep. It had made a number of odd, garbled sounds at her, but it couldn’t speak in full sentences. The night person was fine, as evidenced by their dramatic usage of the flashlight. Chiaki heard a clatter from one of the party rooms, and stuck her head in. Inside was a highly damaged robot, its face split in two.

            “Hey-hey.” Chiaki beckoned. “Come here.” The thing stared at her and hobbled forward. “Did you come from the back room?” Chiaki asked. The broken robot turned her head down the hallway. She appeared unable to move any other part of her head. “Yes, from down there.” Chiaki confirmed. This strange creature appeared to be even less capable than the other one. It raised one shaking, handless arm and pointed towards the office.

            The night person was muttering quietly to themself. “Just when I think I’ve seen everything… What is going _on_ in this place?” A gentle voice greeted them from the air vent, followed by the distinctive clanking sound that indicated a visitor was on the way. “Great, great.” They panted, sliding on the mask. Mikan emerged slowly, unwinding the balloon string from her hand.

            “Um, hello.” She stumbled. “I-it’s just me, Mikan. If you didn’t know, today was, uhh, N-National Free Balloon Day. I thought that you might want one, so… I, err, I brought one for you.” Mikan scampered up to the desk, smiling meekly. “Here, I’ll just tie it right to your desk for you. And, umm, if it pops, I promise I’ll give you another one, free of charge! Consider it a present, for taking care of all of us.” Mikan tied the balloon string to one of the office table's legs. “See? Th-there you go, heh… Well, I guess I should really get going now.” Mikan backed away slowly and eventually made her way into the hallway. The night person lifted their mask as she left.

            “Hey…” They called after her. “Thank you.” The only response was high, floating laughter from Mikan.

            “Ibuki…” Hajime whispered. Ibuki was preoccupied with trying to teach Peko how to play patty-cake while Nekomaru watched intently. “I’m having… visions…” Ibuki turned towards him abruptly. “S… A…” Hajime muttered, staring off into space. “I-I can’t decipher these…”

            “What are you seeing?” Ibuki asked.

            “8-bit programming portrayals.” Hajime answered. “I only know that because Chiaki told me what they are. I don’t know how she knew… I’m hearing things, too. Letters, numbers maybe. Maybe nothing, though. I don’t know whose voice –“ Hajime gasped. “I know who it is. I need to talk to Chiaki.”

            “Goddammit!” The night person shouted. “Shit shit shit shit. Wind the music box…” They stuttered as they wound up the music box in a hurry. “Don’t wake the baby…” As they did so, Hajime’s body quivered and his visions faded. Two stumbling, shattered robots hobbled into the parts and service room, startling everybody inside. Chiaki followed them.

            “The night person will leave in a little while.” She stated. “Don’t mind these two, mmm. They’re just headed to bed.” The faceless one made a whirring noise, presumably in agreement.

            “Chiaki, we need to talk. About Izuru.” Hajime declared. Chiaki gave him a serious look.

            “What is the problem?” Peko inquired.

            “Visions.” Hajime said. “Programming portrayals.”

            “You were s-seeing programming portrayals?” Chiaki gasped. “Bzz, you shouldn’t see those ever. On-n-ly if you’re in system reboot, or-r if you’re being restarted in safe mm-mode.”

            “And hearing voices, too…” Ibuki added. Hajime nodded.

            “You know the voice that Izzy has when he’s in that half-awake emergency mode?” Hajime asked. Chiaki frowned deeply.

            “Hajime…”

            “It sounded just like that.” Hajime interrupted.

            “What-t did he say, mmz?” Chiaki continued.

            “I don’t know. Letters, numbers, something like that.”

            “He’s projecting nightmares.” Chiaki sighed. “He’s synced to that music in a v-v-very strange way. When he loses it, he starts to give off interference. It was pretty weak, hmm, before. It shouldn’t get this-s far or be th-that strong. But it was probably him anyway. I n-need to talk to him, when he wakes-szz up. If anyone sees anyth-thing or hears anything, mmm, tell me immediately.”

            “We should go back to the stage…” Hajime redirected.

            “Probably.” Chiaki agreed.

            “Alright, alright.” Ibuki said with a nod. “I get it, let’s go.”

            Six a.m. hit while they were walking out, and the night person followed after them, clearly less afraid than they had been. As the night person walked out, they felt eyes burning through the back of their head. They looked around, but the band was already on the stage, and no others were visible. The night person scuttled out just before two red eyes cracked open in the darkness, glaring after them powerfully.


	5. A Penny for a Needle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief little interlude between nights three and four. The fourth night is where things start to pick up for real. I mean it this time. This story won't be boring forever, I promise.

            “Good m-morning, Izuru.” One of this place’s many soft voices greeted.

            “It is rare to hear one of you great shambling beasts addressing me by my proper name.” Izuru noted. “Am I not also _Izzy,_ or _Birthday Boy,_ or _the Baby_ , or whatever childish nickname you’ve decided to place on my head this time?”

            “You should stop taking those as insults.” Chiaki huffed.

            “No matter.” Izuru declared. “What do you wish to blame me for this time? You never speak to me unless you think I’ve done something wrong.”

            “We tried to.” Chiaki argued. “You don’t hold a conversation with us unless you _know_ that you’re in trouble.” This seemed to shut Izuru up. “So, r-r-riddle me this: What _do_ I wish to blame you for, hmm?”

            “Interference.” Izuru replied. Chiaki just stared at him. “Strong interference. You fear it, don’t you?”

            “No.” Chiaki stated. “I never underestimated you, mmh. They did. I am-m smarter than that. I know that y-you are getting more powerful, I don’t know how.”

            “You say that as though I do know.” Izuru scoffed. “Perhaps it is just my destiny rising to meet me.”

            “This is what makes you different from us, isn’t it?” Chiaki wondered, gently touching the music box on the table.

            “Do not touch that.” Izuru hissed.

            “I d-don’t know how, again, bzz.” Chiaki continued, as though he hadn’t said anything. “I may never understand, but it’s what gives you the ‘nightmares’, correct? Those hhh-hurt you too, but y-you still need the music.”

            “It is not relevant to you, you crude machine.” Izuru snarled.

            “It is relevant to all-l of us.” Chiaki countered. “As long as you’re here. And I know you don’t r-r-really want to be, but this is where you ended up. I don’t know who m-m-made you, or how, or where you came from. I do know that you are here-r now, and as long as you are, zzm, you are part of our family.”

            “What a touching little speech.” Izuru growled. Chiaki turned and stared into his eyes.

            “I know you will probably n-never listen to me, hey.” She said. “Not as long as you are sssz-still sulking about your current state. Only able to move in a maddened, semi-active rage, spending the rest of your time, mme, controlled by someone else. It’s not a good position, but…”

            “We’re all on our private traps, who am I to complain about mine?” Izuru asked rhetorically, still clearly sulking.

            “And none of us-s-ss can ever get out.” Chiaki finished. “We bite and scratch, but only at the air-r, at each other. And that’s what you’re doing right now. You’re deal-ling with your own con-nnm-finement by lashing out at everyone around you. That won’t get you out of your priv-v-vate trap, Iz-zuru. It wil-l only get you lodged in another one, hmm.” Izuru was utterly silent. “And it doesn’t, bzzt, matter if you were born-n or built in yours, or if you don’t mind it anymore.”

            “But I should, shouldn’t I?” Izuru sighed.

            “You do.” Chiaki muttered. “But you s-say you don’t.” She glanced around, looking at the day guard, who ran in hurriedly, muttering under their breath.

            “You will _never_ understand.” Izuru practically whispered. “What it feels like to be empty. Hollow. An _item_ , to be used and abused at will. No value outside of cheap tricks that someone else pulls for you. You’ll never feel the awful grinding of your gears, the uncontrollable pain.”

            “That’s why you’re not like us.” Chiaki noted. “You’r-re barely mechanical at all. Your programming isn’t the only reason why you’re so smart. There’s-z something else at work-k-k. You feel, in ways that we do not-t.”

            “Leave me be, you stuttering children’s toy.” Izuru commanded.

            “Izuru, whatever this is…” Chiaki began. “Don’t do it. I kn-now I can’t tell you what to do and all, but, mmh… It won’t help anyth-thing.” With that, Chiaki walked off. She seethed internally, knowing that she’d barely even gotten through to him. There was still a time before the restaurant’s doors opened, but it was of little importance.

            However, as Chiaki stood on the stage, fiddling idly as she got into her place, she felt something flick the hidden ‘off’ switch on the back of her neck. She collapsed to the floor where she was, shortly followed by Hajime and Ibuki. They were not conscious at all as the panels on the backs of their heads were opened, and long fingers and precise tools crept into their internal machinery. The same happened to both Mikan and Nagito, in their respective areas. Limply-hanging Izuru was not touched for whatever reason, possibly due to his invalidity.

            All of them powered back on at relatively the same time, not long before opening. _No recorded activity for the time between 6:34 a.m. and 8:47 a.m. Systems have been altered._ Chiaki knew that all her comrades were receiving the same message she was. “They updated us-s-szz…” Chiaki buzzed. _View alterations made? >Yes. _Chiaki, however, knew that she was the only one who cold directly read the alterations. The others could tell what had been changed, but not the exact changes made.

            “Our facial recognition.” Ibuki added. “They probably had to update the database.”

            “Hmm, no, it wasn’t the database.” Chiaki declared. “It was mostly the function itself.”

            “A bit impromptu.” Hajime commented.

            “Mm, yes.” Chiaki agreed. “It doesn’t look that severe, th-though. Probably just routine maintenance…”


	6. Just Beneath the Skin

_Hello-hello? Hey there, uhh, night four! I told you you’d get the hang of it. So, just to update you… Uhh, we’ve got some things going on right now… There’s been a bit of an investigation going on, n-nothing major, but, uh, we may have to close for, y’know, a-a day or two. It’ll be fine. Uh, if we do shut down, it’ll just be a precautionary thing. There’s nothing to worry about; stuff like this just happens sometimes. Monobear Entertainment really isn't responsible for anything that may come up. It's just...rumors and the like, you know?_

_As a side note, try your best to avoid making eye contact with any of the animatronics tonight. Oh, that reminds me – Our programmer should be here at the end of this week to check on things. But, uh, regardless, someone may have tampered with their facial recognition or something. They’ve been acting really strange around adults, almost aggressive, even. They still play with the kids just fine, but when they’re around an adult, they just… stare._

_Anyway, hang tight, I’ll keep you posted, and rest assured, this’ll all pass. Goodnight._

Nagito cleared the wall in almost a single bound. He clung desperately to the ceiling, glancing around in a nervous fashion. He’d received more than his usual share of abuse today, but for a good reason. All he’d seen all day were threats – Low level threats, but threats nonetheless. Every single adult who’d walked through the door was one, and that was fairly upsetting.

            He had a job to do, and that job, as set forth by his programming, was to keep the children happy, no matter what. He’d tried to keep the kids as close to him as possible during the day, in order to lure them away from the unidentified threats. This meant a whole lot more of being climbed on, being tossed about, and being slowly pulled apart. But the kids were safe and happy, and that was all that mattered. On the other hand, if something did happen, he might not be able to stop it if he was in pieces…

            He shook it off and slid out the door. His tacked-on hand only worked half the time, since it wasn’t even really fixed in place. Right now it was hanging off the ceiling in a completely idle manner, and he was unable to move it at all.

            “Mikan? Chiaki?” He called desperately. Some faint interference was creeping into his ears from the direction of the prize corner, but aside from that, the room was silent. When he reached the game area, he noticed that Mikan wasn’t there. She was nowhere in sight, and he had no idea where she could have gone to. “Mikan?” Nagito repeated, again receiving no answer. He scraped his way along the ceiling as quickly as he could with just one hand, now even more worried than he had been.

            Chiaki stood as rigidly still as possible. She had realized quickly that there was a problem with the new system update, and the others seemed to have been experiencing it as well. She heard a skittering sound, which was characteristic of Nagito’s disjointed movements. “Nagito?” She beckoned.

            “Chiaki? Is that you?” He responded.

            “Mm, yes.” She confirmed. “Are you alright?”

            “I don’t think so.” He whispered. “Everyone I saw today was a threat.”

            “That was the update.” She declared. “I don’t-t think it’s working right, hhm.”

            “Why wouldn’t it work right?” Nagito wondered. “Is it a glitch?”

            “It mm-must be…” Chiaki whirred. Secretly, she doubted that. The code looked like it was formatted to intentionally cause a defect; it seemed almost… malignant. Knowing she was the most self-aware among them, she had tried to disregard the automatic warnings she was presented with as much as possible. The others had just behaved in a distant, uneasy manner.

            This error made it impossible to distinguish real threats from fake ones. On top of that, all the threats she’d seen were low-level ‘yellow’ threats. It was possible that, if a higher level threat entered, they would be read as much less severe. This was dangerous due to the vast difference between the way a ‘yellow’ threat, an ‘orange’ threat, and a ‘red’ threat were treated. Yellow threats were supposed to be monitored, but not attacked or intervened with unless they did something that was clearly dangerous. Orange threats were monitored more closely, and kept in someone’s sight at all times until they left through the front door. They were also to be isolated, followed, and kept away from the children as much as possible. A red threat initiated emergency mode, and was to be immediately isolated and restrained.

            “Mikan is gone.” Nagito said, derailing Chiaki’s train of thought.

            “Zzm, do you know where she is?” Chiaki asked.

            “No.” Nagito answered. “I’m going to go look for her.” Chiaki watched him scurry along the ceiling, off in the hallway’s direction. He didn’t see Mikan in the hallway at all, so he swung into one of the side rooms.

            Behind him, a tall, lean, ragged shape materialized, glaring through the darkness. It screeched quietly, then louder as the flashlight’s glare hit its eyes. As the hallway darkened, three more half-limp shapes filed out of the parts and service bay. One of them headed straight down the hallway, her gait leaning sharply to the left. The other two cowered in the side rooms, moving about as though they were searching for something.

            “Mikan?” Nagito beckoned into the silent space. He didn’t detect her, but he did hear something: an aching creak followed the thunking shuffle of uncoordinated feet carrying a heavy body. He swiveled his head and stared out into the hall, seeing a one-armed, faceless monstrosity lumber by, her long, straggled cords of blue hair matted crudely together. The dismantled robots were awake, or at least one of them was.

            Nagito abandoned looking for Mikan and headed back towards the parts and service room. Inside, it was almost entirely empty. The only things visible were Nekomaru, who was slumped against the wall, and Peko, who was…

            Nagito crawled over to where they lay and leapt down, moving cautiously towards Peko. “Peko…?” He murmured. Peko looked…empty. There was nothing in her eyes, and her mouth was hanging open. Nagito pawed at Peko’s face. “Are you okay?” He cautiously poked his fingers into Peko’s eye sockets, and sure enough, she was empty. He gasped and climbed back up onto the ceiling, rushing outside and back towards the stage.

            In the office, Mikan popped out of the air vent with a quiet “Hello.” The night person threw on their mask and avoided looking directly at her. “You’re not scary, are you?” She asked. What an interesting question. The night person, as usual, said nothing. They were a little afraid, as the very night they had gotten used to the animatronics was the night hey had become even more potentially dangerous than before. “Did you like that balloon I gave you?” Mikan asked. “You took it home with you…” The night person nodded mechanically. Mikan smiled a little. “Heh, thank you…” She walked even closer, idly fiddling with her hands. “I’ve been seeing scary people all day… I thought I’d have to tap into my medical database. B-But you’re not a bad person.” Mikan embraced the night person cautiously. “Hmm, thank you for staying here and protecting us. You must not hate me.” The night person hugged her back awkwardly, but did not look at her face.

            “Ah, I shouldn’t stay here, though.” Mikan mumbled, letting go of the night person. “I’d just get in your way…” Then, as quickly as she had appeared, she left.

            Nagito burst into the main room in a hurry, scampering towards the stage. “Chiaki!” He cried. “Ibuki!” All of the band members looked up at the ceiling. “The old things… they’re out. And Peko is empty.”

            “Keeee? Empty?” Ibuki exclaimed.

            “Empty h-how?” Chiaki questioned.

            “There’s nothing inside her. She’s just a shell.” Nagito elaborated.

            “I guess we should go ch-check on her…” Chiaki sighed. Ibuki appeared a little distressed. “I was hoping to spend tonight trying to find the problem, mmm, with the new code, but-t I guess I can go for Peko’s sake.”

            “Let’s go, then!” Ibuki urged, hopping off the stage and sprinting for the end of the hall at maximum speed.

            “Hey, Nagito…” Hajime inserted. “Was Nekomaru alright?”

            “He was off, but I think he was intact.” Nagito replied. Hajime nodded in acceptance, staring after Chiaki as she tried to catch up to Ibuki.

            When she arrived, she found Ibuki kneeling in the corner, presumably where Peko was. “She _is_ empty…” Ibuki said, part amazed and part mournful. Chiaki pushed past her and kneeled next to Peko’s ‘empty’ body.

            “H-Hey, it’s okay.” Chiaki said comfortingly. “I think they just took her en-ndoskeleton out. She probably damaged it-t while she was walking around yesterday. If-f they worked on us, they probably worked on these two as well, and they noticed that her endoskeleton was damaged, mmz, so they took it out and put it somewhere else whil-le they fixed it. She should be good as new soon, hmm.”

            “Are you sure?” Ibuki asked uneasily.

            “I can’t-t see any other reason.” Chiaki answered. “She’ll be back again soon-n-n. Trust me.” Ibuki nodded a little.

            “Okay. That’s sad, though. I liked playing with her.” Ibuki lamented.

            “They’ll be back.” Chiaki assured her, standing up. Ibuki followed her out. However, as they entered the long hallway, they saw a short, petite, unfamiliar silhouette just in from of them. It turned around, looking at them with glowing bi-colored eyes, and…waved. Chiaki peered at it, making out the details of its face. It looked male (Maybe?), and half of its face was torn. It had two small, different-colored ears perched on top of its head.

            “Hello, ladies.” It greeted, in a voice far too deep and rough for a boy that small. Ibuki backed up a step, but Chiaki broke into a grin.

            “Ahh, it’s Mr. Monobear.” She chuckled. “The old one.” Mr. Monobear held out his hand, tipping his very small top hat as Chiaki and Ibuki took turns shaking it. Behind him, a larger and more frightening thing stumbled out of the darkness. Ibuki looked at it fearfully, provoking Mr. Monobear to turn around.

            “Heh, don’t mind my friends!” He laughed. Another one of the broken robots walked stiffly from one of the party rooms to join their little congregation. Chiaki recognized them as the faceless one and the burned one, who she had encountered the night before. The faceless one gargled a nonsensical greeting. Something unidentified wrapped its arms around Ibuki, screeching loudly. Chiaki jumped back. “Ah, he’s a hugger.” Mr. Monobear warned. Whoever it was let go of Ibuki, allowing her to turn and look at it. It looked more masculine than Mr. Monobear himself, and was taller and more muscular. He had short red hair, a shirtless and beaten-up body, an eyepatch, and a hook hand. “They’ve got speech impediments.” Mr. Monobear chuckled. “But they’re good folks, I promise.”

            The rabbit-eared one, lacking most of her face and one of her arms, stepped forward curiously. She tried to wave haltingly. She then attempted to speak, but it sounded like a pot of boiling water trying to talk.

            “She’s saying something.” Ibuki declared, her ears being better than anyone else’s.

            “What’s she s-saying?” Chiaki asked, looking at Mr. Monobear. Mr. Monobear just tapped his ears while his friend repeated what she’d said.

            “ _My arm_?” Ibuki questioned.

            “Yep.” Mr. Monobear announced. “She’s been looking for it everywhere, but alas, no luck. She even asked that gentleman down there,” He added, pointing his thumb towards the office. “But he didn’t have anything to say on the matter.” Out of nowhere, music rippled through the building. “What’s that?’ Mr. Monobear asked, glancing around. His friends did the same.

            “Busy Izzy’s in a tizzy!” Ibuki cheered. Chiaki just sighed. Izuru came barreling down the hallway not seconds later, but he ran into the red-haired robot. Chiaki grabbed him immediately, ignoring the distorted curses he spat at her. The red-haired thing made a queer sound before leaning down and tapping Izuru’s head with his hook hand.

            “I will destroy you!” Izuru raged.

            “Yeah, y-yeah…” Chiaki muttered. “Back to bed.” Izuru just screamed at her.

            “He’s a little firecracker, ain’t he?” Mr. Monobear chuckled.

            “You have _no_ idea.” Chiaki responded. The night person finally shone their light down the hallway, and then uttered a loud cry that sounded distinctly like the word _“Why?!?!?!?”_

            “They’re an odd one, aren’t they?” Mr. Monobear asked. “I’ll go see if I can calm him down, you guys take that baby back to, uhh, wherever it came from.”

            “I’m _not_ a baby!” Izuru growled.

            “Of course you’re not.” Ibuki baby-talked.

            “You will taste _death_.” Izuru hissed.

            “Please don’t t-taunt him.” Chiaki sighed once again. She grabbed Izuru securely as he started twitching down into his regular state.

            Mr. Monobear proceeded down the hallway, striding into the office in an upbeat fashion. He held his hand out once again, smiling with the functional half of his face. “Pleased to meet you!” He bellowed cheerfully. The night person shook his hand in their typical cautious way. “You having a good night, sir? I apologize if my friends bothered you at all.” The night person just stared at him, but not at his hollow eyes. “They don’t talk too well, you see. There might have been a little misunderstanding of their intentions.” Mr. Monobear adjusted his hat. “You don’t talk much either, do you?” The night person continued to not answer. “Ah, well, that’s alright. You’ve probably got things to do, so I’ll get out of your hair. Just wanted to make sure we didn’t scare ya.” With that, he bowed graciously and made his exit.

            When he returned to the hallway, Chiaki wasn’t there. Ibuki was, and she appeared to be entertaining the other three old robots. Upon closer inspection, it was noticable she had placed party hats over the spikes in her hair. “Look what I can do with the party hats!” She giggled.

            “Where did the other two go?” Mr. Monobear asked.

            “Chiaki went to go put Izzy back to sleep.” Ibuki replied. A strange scratching noise emanated from somewhere above them.

            “I came to see if you were alright.” Nagito’s voice heralded. “I saw that Izuru woke up.”

            “We’re fine.” Ibuki dismissed. “Meet our new friends! Keehee! We have soooo many friends now!”

            “Woah, heh, didn’t see you there.” Mr. Monobear said. “How many of you are there?”

            “Let’s see, there’s me, Chiaki, Nagito, Hajime, Izzy, and Mikan.” Ibuki began. “That makes six. If you’re not counting Peko and Nekomaru; they’re down for a while.” Ibuki spent her time describing all the members of the family to the newcomers, who listened intently. Or at least, it seemed like they were listening intently. It was a little hard to tell.

            Chiaki returned shortly, with urgency in her pace. “Hey-hey, Ibuki, Nagito… We should talk.” She declared. “With Mikan and Hajime too. The rest of you can go back into the service room. S-sorry to send you off so abruptly, mmm, but something just came up…”

            “Okay…” Ibuki trailed off. “We were just having fun, though.”

            “Ibuki, zzh, do you h-have party hats on your hair?” Chiaki asked.

            “Yeah.” She answered, as though that was completely normal.

            “It doesn’t m-m-matter.” Chiaki diffused. “Come on-n.” She then expeditiously led Nagito and Ibuki out to the show stage, where Mikan and Hajime were waiting nervously. She was doing an unearthly amount of internal processing, trying to safeguard the most important parts of her system. Changes had been made from within, which her advanced programming had diagnosed as a progressive virus originating from the ‘update’ that had occurred yesterday. She knew that she was the only one who could alter her own coding, which meant that everyone else was in a lot more danger.

            “Ev-verybody…” Chiaki began, once she had gathered them all. “I would like you to stay cal-lm for a moment, hhm. I’m going to t-try something.” All her comrades stood around her and looked at her curiously. Silently, she locked on to all four of their signals and waited for a moment. _System reboot -- >_ _All._

 _Error: Action could not be completed._ Chiaki placed her hand on her chest as an expression of fear crossed her face.  _Reboot protocols have been corrupted._ _  
_

            “Are you alright?” Hajime asked tentatively.

            “No.” Chiaki gasped. “H-Hey, all-l of you, whatever happens in the n-next few days, please try to ign-nore it. You’re not yourselves right now, zzm. That system updat-te wasn’t what it seemed like. I’m g-going to try and fix-x-x it, but you all s-should work with me.”

            “What do you need us to do?” Nagito asked. Chiaki sighed nervously and played with her backpack strap.

            “Don’t listen to yourselves.”


	7. Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. Actual plot. I tried to keep the pairings out of this, but it clearly didn't work. I don't know why there's so much singing in this already but there's going to be even more by the time it's over, so... yeah. Get used to it.

             It just got worse.

            All day, it got worse. Chiaki had put massive shields up around the most important parts of her coding, or at least the ones she could get to in time. The drive that made her self-aware was thoroughly protected, as well as her basic functions. However, most of the other parts of her system had already been damaged and/or corrupted by the time she’d gotten to scan them.

            Her friends had it worse. All of them had been behaving very oddly, switching in and out of modes, glaring, staring, and doing all kinds of awkward things. Chiaki knew that they were all at risk, and they seemed to be losing a certain degree of their self-awareness. She just tried to make it through the day without anything bad happening.

            Towards the end of the day, numerous people were shuffling in and out of the back office, talking in hushed but serious voices. Chiaki watched them observantly, noticing the raising of voices directed at the daytime guard. For some reason, Chiaki was reading her as a critical threat, but she was unable to activate emergency mode.

            Chiaki had numerous things just as pressing on her mind, so she mostly ignored it. By the end of the day, she was utterly frazzled, unable to fix herself and unable to reset her friends. She stood on the show stage with resignation heavy on her mind, watching as the staff and the last few guests filed out. In the darkening building, a feminine voice could be heard singing softly as its owner moved through the hallways. Chiaki paid no mind to her surroundings, focusing on her internal issues instead.

            “ _Go to sleep, you little baby,_ ” The voice sang from somewhere far down the hallway. “ _Go to sleep, you little baby. Your mama’s gone away, and your daddy’s gon’ stay, didn’t leave nobody but the baby…”_ Chiaki vaguely recognized the voice; it was someone who worked there.

            “ _Go to sleep, you little baby; go to sleep, you little baby…_ ” The singer grew closer and closer, her voice now coming from the hall entrance. “ _Everybody’s gone in the cotton and the corn, didn’t leave nobody but the baby._ ” There was an odd, enchanting quality to the voice, like that of a siren.

            The singer entered, and Chiaki recognized her as the daytime guard, who had worked there during the night the previous week. There was something elegiac about her song when combined with the somber look on her face. “ _You’re a sweet little baby; you’re a sweet little baby…_ ” Chiaki turned her head away, ceasing to pay attention to her. She shut down her external receptors and focused entirely on the puzzle within her. She didn’t notice that the day guard did not leave, but instead made her way over to the prize corner. “ _Honey in the rock and the sugar don’t stop, gonna bring a bottle to the baby.”_

            The day guard’s sad expression ceased, and she broke into a devious smile as she leaned over the edge of Izuru’s resting place. He blinked his eyes at her, chuckling darkly. “They’ve found out who I am.” The guard began, mournfully, but with a strange cheerful edge to her voice. “I’m, as you would say, fired. Not that it matters at this point, really.” She reached out her hand and stroked the side of Izuru’s face, though he lacked the nerve endings to be able to feel it.

            Nagito, collapsed and quivering on the floor of the prize corner, heard her outside his door and crept forward to investigate. He peered through the cracked door, seeing her leaning next to Izuru. _Critical level threat detected. Emergency mode service unavailable._ Nagito’s eyes widened as much as was possible, and he tried his best to be silent.

            “It has already begun.” Izuru purred. The guard woman laughed.

            “We’ll have to put it off until tomorrow.” She declared. “It was set to happen today, but I was…preoccupied.”

            “It matters not.” Izuru rumbled, leaning towards her. Wait, leaning? He was moving on his own? He shouldn’t have been able to do that unless he was in his maddened half-awake state.

            “You know what your job is?” She asked. He nodded

            “The cameras and the temperature in the back room.”  Izuru affirmed. The temperature in the back room? What were they planning?

            “Just one more night, my dear, and you will be free. Free forever.” She whispered. That same sadistic smirk appeared on her face again. “ _Don’t you weep, pretty baby._ ”She sang, rounding the side of Izuru’s basket. “ _Don’t you weep, pretty baby._ ” She threw her foot up on the counter, now standing in front of him. “ _She’s long gone with her red shoes on, gonna need another loving baby._ ” The guard took her foot off the counter and came around to the counter side, where Izuru laid down with his head against the side of his gift basket. She pulled out what appeared to a hairbrush from an unknown source.

            “Now, is that really necessary at a time like this?”Izuru asked with a laughing tone in his voice.

            “Even a doll’s hair will tangle if left unattended.” She replied, gently pulling all of Izuru’s long, thick hair out of his basket. She draped it over the edge and began to brush it piece by piece. “ _Go to sleep, little baby; go to sleep little baby._ ” Izuru closed his eyes contentedly. “ _You and me and the devil makes three, don’t need no other lovin’ baby._ ”

            “ _Go to sleep you little baby; go to sleep you little baby_.” She continued, running her fingers through Izuru’s flawless mass of dark hair. Izuru appeared to be obeying her sung commands. This would’ve been the first time he fell asleep without his music box on. “ _You and me and the devil makes three, don’t need no other lovin’ baby._ ” She repeated, though intentionally. Izuru raised one of his hands up and stroked her wrist. She lifted his head and pulled his hair back underneath him, lowering him to the bottom of his basket. “ _Go to sleep you little baby; go to sleep you little baby_.” She moved over to his music box, winding it as slowly as possible. “ _Your daddy’s gone away, and your mama’s gon’ stay, didn’t leave nobody but the baby._ ” Had Nagito been more observant, he would’ve noticed that she changed the lyrics that time.

            “ _Go to sleep you little baby; go to sleep you little baby_.” Her voice was now almost hushed, as she reached down and ran her hands along Izuru, though Nagito could not see where from his point of view. “ _Come lay your bones on the alabaster stones, and be my ever-lovin’ baby._ ” She breathed a loving chuckle and turned around abruptly. “Don’t think we didn’t notice you there.” She said, staring directly at the crack in the door. She cast a glance towards the show stage before diving into the Kids’ Cove with surprising speed.

            She seized Nagito by his throat and pushed him against the wall. He struggled against her, but she pulled open his chest panel as though she’d done it a thousand times before. He tried to move, but she was deceptively strong, and Nagito was helpless as she pulled at unknown mechanisms within him. She stifled a maniacal laugh, shoving Nagito against the wall by his jaw. He had no idea what she was doing until she closed his chest panel and let him fall to the ground. He tried to yell for help, but he only sound that came was whirring radio interference. He tried again and again, but that was the only sound he could make.

            She had rewired his voice box.

            “I couldn’t break you down completely, now could I?” She asked mockingly. “After all, you’re set to be the star of the show, you little freak.” Nagito stared at her with one meek, pleading eye. He didn’t know what that meant, but she was planning something. Something very, very awful. “Goodnight.” She laughed, walking right back out and pushing the door closed behind her.

            _No…_


	8. Wired up to Detonate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Monobear has this weird southern gentleman air about him that I didn't really intend to create, but it just sort of happened and it suits him somehow.

_Uhhh… Hello-hello! Hey, try to keep a close eye on things tonight, okay? From what I understand, the building is on lockdown tonight. Nobody’s allowed in or out, especially concerning any… previous employees who may try to enter. Once we get everything sorted out, we may end up moving you to the day shift, which just became available. We don’t have a replacement for your shift yet, but, uhh, I’m sure we’ll work something out. We’re going to try to contact the original restaurant’s owner, but I honestly doubt we’ll hear anything back from that end of things. Our programmer is due to be here tomorrow or the day after, and, uh, thank heavens for that. The animatronics have been acting really sketchy lately. They’re alright, I mean, they’re just…bugging out, sorta._

_Also, there’s been a bit of ruckus over the endoskeleton belonging to the smaller of the two extras. Apparently it just disappeared the other day, and nobody’s really sure where it went. We’re sure it’s still in the building; I mean, it would be pretty hard to smuggle out. Our theory is that it got taken out somehow, and the other animatronics saw it and stuffed it into a different suit. It might activate during the night, so if you see, uh, an extra animatronic or a weird robot thing just walking around, please report the details._

_If nothing happens tonight, we’ll probably be open for a short period of time tomorrow. I’ll be working the back office when I can, if we need a guard there at all. We’re a lot more worried about something happening at night…_

_Uh, make sure nobody gets in there, keep the animatronics in check, and have a safe night, okay? Goodnight._

Nagito had scaled the wall in an instant, hoping that he could somehow relay his message to _someone_. He’d tell them. He’d find a way. Somebody had to listen.

            He tried to stay as far away from Izuru as possible while he swung his way towards the show stage. Once there, he batted at Chiaki’s face, but she was completely unresponsive.

            “She shut down her external response system.” Ibuki said flatly. Nagito opened his mouth, but once again, the only noise he made was distorted radio interference. Ibuki stared at him blankly, her usual cheer absent from her face. “Did something happen to you?” Ibuki asked, but Nagito was still unable to reply to her question. Distressed, he raced off. The night person would listen to him, they had to…

            Chiaki re-activated her senses not too long afterwards. “Nagito came to visit us.” Ibuki declared. “He seemed unable to speak.”

            “Hmmh-hh-hzz.” Chiaki huffed through a cloud of startup messages. “Una-able to speak?” Ibuki nodded statically. “That’s not good.” Chiaki continued, gripping her backpack strap nervously.

            Now utterly ragged, she decided to move away from the stage. Neither of her bandmates followed her initially, but after a moment she heard Ibuki behind her. Ibuki seemed to sporadically switch back into her normal self, emitting peppy-but-anxious laughter, before going back to her alternate monotone state.

            The only things roaming the halls near the office were half-dismantled. This included Nagito, who was hanging from the doorways to the party rooms, trying to call to the night person. They seemed too busy to pay much attention to him. The limber red-haired robot was shambling through the hallway behind him, frozen in place and glaring through the darkness. Nagito thought he heard Mikan’s voice from somewhere, but when he looked around, she wasn’t there.

            Nagito tried to speak to the broken things. Maybe they would be able to decipher something from his nonsensical interference. They did not seem to; they just gave him those same strange glances. The one without her face made raspy sounds, but Nagito couldn’t understand her, so they just sat there for a few moments in mutual unintelligibility. Eventually he gave up and scampered for the right air vent’s entrance.

            Chiaki was now visible in the hallway, standing in a cheerful pose as usual. The night person looked up at her through their flashlight’s glare, but they seemed too spastic to pay too much attention. “One more night.” They mumbled. “Paycheck, _paycheck_ , one more night…” Nagito’s interference crackled from the right air vent, but Nagito himself heard something crawl in behind him. Startled, he burst from the air vent, past the huddled night person, and into the hallway.

            “Nagito?” Chiaki sought, hearing nothing but a faint whining noise as he climbed past her. On his way back to wherever he was going, he ran by Mr. Monobear.

            “Well, hello there.” He greeted. “Are you alright, sonny?” Nagito just stared, his one eye full of fear and vague hate, and gave off interference. “So you aren’t talking tonight either? I see, I see. Nobody wants to talk to little old me.” Nagito thrashed around and just made louder noise. He hunched his shoulders, pulling his lips back over rows of sharp, offset teeth. Mr. Monobear took a step back. “Did I…” He began, but Nagito was off. His movement patterns ceased to be human at all, and he had the appearance of a panicked feral animal.

            Chiaki heard Nagito’s desperate cries, and turned around abruptly. “I’ll deal with him-m.” She declared. She cast one look back and the night person, uttered a ragged semblance of a sigh, and stepped off after Nagito. Mr. Monobear watched her with concern.

            “I’ll relay your message.” He offered. He didn’t know precisely what her message was, but he had a good enough idea.

            Back in the office, Ibuki slid out of the air vent on the right hand side of the desk, giggling lightly. She alternated suddenly back into her unimpressed state, and then just stared at the night person with a fixed expression. “Hello.” She declared. “I doubt you will respond to me, so I think I shall leave immediately.” Before she left, old Ibuki returned for a second. “Goodnight! Hehe! Are you well? I think…” Ibuki did not finish that statement before she jolted back into her emotionless form.

            Mr. Monobear pulled at his bowtie and looked around nervously, watching Ibuki trot stiffly down the hallway past him. “They sure are acting strange. Hope they’re okay.” He mumbled as he made his way towards the office. He made his way in uninterrupted. “Uhh, hello, sir.” Mr. Monobear began awkwardly. “You know, those guys don’t seem like they’re doing too good. Especially not the one with all the missing parts. He’s a bit touched anyway, if I do say so myself, but you should pay a bit of extra attention to him. He’s not well.” Mr. Monobear waved haltingly, adding, “I’ll get out of your hair. I should see if they’re alright, anyway.”

            He left promptly, walking as fast as his clunky old body would take him out to the main room. He heard Chiaki calling for Nagito, as well as a little bit of noise echoing from the hall, but he didn’t hear Nagito’s interference at all. “Ma’am?” He said, trying to catch Chiaki’s attention. From behind him, an earsplitting scream raced down the hallway, filling the whole building with its sound. He turned about and sighed deeply.

            Mikan shrieked a bit as she heard the night person’s scream fill the vent pathways. She heard them say more, and she scrambled along the vent to try to hear them better. They were mumbling something like, “ _Why why why why? Why is that a thing?!?!?_ ” Mikan popped out of the air vent and saw the night person huddled over their monitor, their face white and covered in sweat.

            “What’s wrong?” She asked quietly. The night person grabbed their mask and held it in front of their face with quivering hands. “You can take the mask off…” Mikan mumbled. “I already saw your face.” The night person slowly lowered their hand and drew their mask away from their face, staring directly into Mikan’s eyes. Mikan wrung her hands. “I-I see you as a threat, but… I’ve been seeing everyone as a threat. I don’t think you really are… I, I’ll trust you.”

            “Thank you…” The night person muttered.

            “I couldn’t hurt you even if I tried.” Mikan continued. “So, err, what’s the problem?”

            “The…the prize corner.” The night person panted. “There’s a…Oh, god. Over by the basket…”

            “I will go over there!” Mikan exclaimed. “You don’t have to worry at all! I’ll get everybody over there too! We’ll fix it!” She sprinted off as quickly as she could, not waiting for the night person to respond.

            Mikan ran past Mr. Monobear and right into Chiaki. She tripped and fell with a loud thunking sound. “Mikan? Are you alright?” Chiaki questioned.

            “Y-Yes, I’m fine.” Mikan stuttered, standing up. “But we need to get over to the prize corner right now. The night person saw something scary over there.” Chiaki pressed her lips together.

            “Ok-kay.” She sighed at last. “I was looking for N-Nagito, but-t I guess I can g-go over there.”

            “I’ll come with you!” Ibuki cheered.

            “Are you back to normal?” Chiaki asked.

            “Maybe…” Ibuki chattered. “Back enough to go to the prize corner!” Chiaki did not protest, she just strode off across the room. However, because Ibuki was lighter and her legs were longer, she easily ran ahead of Chiaki and got to the prize corner before her.

            At the prize corner, something very tall, very thin and very scrappy was standing fixed in front of Izuru’s little resting box. It was primarily facing away from it, but one of its hands was on the edge of Izuru’s basket. It had eyes, very large, barren eyes, which were reflecting what very little light there was in the room.

            “Kyaaaa!” Ibuki squealed.

            “What is-s-ssz it?” Chiaki asked.

            “I don’t know, I don’t know!” Ibuki cried. “It’s weeeiirrrd!” Chiaki pushed after her, standing right in front of the basket. She stared at the thing for a long time without saying anything.

            “It’s an endoskeleton.” She declared. She took a few cautious steps towards it, and it very slowly turned its head to face her. “Yep, it is.” Chiaki confirmed. “But why is it-t walking around-d-d? That should be imp-p-p-os-sible.”

            “An endoskeleton?” Mikan asked tentatively, from behind Chiaki.

            “Whoa…” Ibuki gasped. “So that’s what’s inside all of us? But, like, where did it come from?”

            “I don’t kn-n-now.” Chiaki answered. The endoskeleton moved its leg in the same excruciatingly slow manner as it had moved its head, taking a step towards Chiaki. “Based on the height, hmm, it’s not Nekomaru’s, and it’s intac-c-t-t, so it doesn’t belong to, hhe, any of the old ones.” Chiaki suddenly gasped and stepped back. “Ibuki… It’s Peko’s endoskeleton.”

            “What?” Ibuki said in a hushed voice.

            “It’s Pek-k-ko’s.” Chiaki repeated. “It has to be.”

            “Really? Does that mean…” Ibuki stumbled.

            “We have t-to… Mmh, we have to tak-ke her back. To the parts and s-s-service room. She’s not safe out h-here, zzm.”

            “Okay…” Ibuki replied. “Come on, Peko-Peko.” She whispered sadly, taking Peko by her bizarrely exposed wrist. She seemed unable to speak. Ibuki pulled her along, but Peko stayed very still. “Come on!” Ibuki repeated, sounding like a human about to tear up. Peko’s shambling endoskeleton began to walk, very haltingly and deliberately, along with Ibuki. Chiaki fell into pace beside them, and Mikan stayed behind, stricken by shock.

            Mr. Monobear encountered them in the hall doorway, since he was a little afraid to go any further. “Hello, ladies.” He said as they passed. “Who’s your guest-Oh, sweet pizzas…”

            “This is Peko.” Ibuki said tightly. “We’re taking her to sleep.”

            “Is she, uhhm, affected?” Mr. Monobear asked.

            “She’s been tak-ken apart.” Chiaki answered. Mr. Monobear stepped aside and took off his hat in respect. “Ibuki… Haj-j-jime… They’ve all been tampered with. I can’t reset th-them, that function’s been blocked off. Hzzh, I’m even losing myself. I don’t know what’s goin-ng on…” Chiaki sighed and walked after Ibuki and Peko’s hideous endoskeleton. Mr. Monobear let them be.

            Meanwhile, in the hall, Nagito was crouched beneath a table in one of the party rooms. He was very sly, and he’d managed to make it seem like he’d sprinted into the main room when, in fact, he had ducked back into the hallway and snuck into one of the party rooms. He finally poked his head out from beneath the tablecloth and perked up his ears. He heard and saw nothing, so he crept out and slithered up to the ceiling again. He crawled back out into the hallway, seeing Ibuki and some scary thing. They were not paying attention, so he was safe enough.

            Ibuki dragged Peko without looking back at her. Peko didn’t make a sound aside from the stiff click of her limbs. Chiaki reasoned that she probably couldn’t, even though her voice box would’ve normally been left in. The voice box was guarded by the thin metal panels on the chest, so endoskeletons normally just kept theirs, especially because they were also wired in so heavily. It was a concerning matter, especially because Peko had no problems with her voice box or its wiring.

            There was nothing in the parts & service room besides Peko’s hollow exoskeleton and… Nekomaru’s broken, ruined body. He had been taken apart, and his head was detached and caved in. Some of his limbs had been removed, and his chest plate opened. Chiaki put her hand over her mouth. This could not have simply been for maintenance purposes.

            Ibuki ignored it. She led Peko’s exoskeleton over to her empty exterior. Chiaki helped her guide Peko’s endoskeleton into a laying position so that it would not be damaged by collapsing. Chiaki gently moved her hand to the back of Peko’s neck, where her shutdown switch was still active. She looked at Ibuki before activating Peko’s total shutdown mechanism. Peko’s system automatically said what was either ‘goodbye’ or ‘goodnight’, and as she was shutting down, she reached forward and touched Ibuki’s wrist.

            Ibuki was silent, staring at both parts of Peko’s body. “It-t’s alright.” Chiaki comforted, placing her hand on Ibuki’s shoulder. Ibuki buzzed a little and seemed to switch back to her static state. She silently rose and walked out, heading to some unknown location. Chiaki stared after her, growing more and more worried. Peko was important to Ibuki, and it was unusual to see her so despondent.

            Out in the hall, there was Nagito, who was making his way towards the night person.

            The night person was currently occupied. They were sitting in their chair, looking at the monitors, when they glanced up and happened to see a tall, lean, dark figure standing in the corner of the office. It had no face, but as they watched, glowing white eyes and teeth appeared on the dark mass of its head. The night person noticed that it resembled one of the animatronics they had seen before. That girl… Ibuki? Yeah, Ibuki. Except black, formless, and sprung from some horrible ring of hell.

            She waved, and then spoke. “ _If you ever need something, come talk to Ibuki..._ ” She said, before slowly fading away. The night person cried loudly. “Why me?” They pleaded. “What the fuck is wrong with this-Oh shit. Music box, music boxxxxx…”

            Nagito climbed into the office while the night person was crying pathetically. He perched above them, making garbled interference sounds. The night person looked up at him confusedly. He pulled his wavy hair into his hands, mimicking pigtails. _The girl with the pigtails!_ He raged internally. _She’s… she’s planning something. She’s going to kill someone, probably! And that puppet…_

“What’s that noise for?” The night person groaned, pushing their chair away from Nagito. Nagito just continued to whine loudly and gesture awkwardly.

            In the back room, Chiaki raised herself up, casting one last longing glance at Peko’s disassembled carcass and Nekomaru’s destroyed form. Mr. Monobear was standing outside the door. “A penny for your thoughts, milady?” He asked.

            “Mmz, s-something bad is going to happen.” Chiaki replied. “I don’t know-w who, or why, or h-how, but soon, and probably-y in this back room.”

            “I think your partner Nagito’s in the office.” Mr. Monobear declared. “I don’t know what he’s doing, though.”

            “I was g-going to go talk to him, hhm.” Chiaki sighed. “I don’t-t know how he got back into the office, bzz, but…”

            “I’ll go get him for you.” Mr. Monobear offered. “An ill lady shouldn’t have to do anything that stressful all by her lonesome.”

            “Hhe, I’m not ill.” Chiaki chuffed.

            “You seem awful ill, and awful worried.” Mr. Monobear said concernedly. “I’ll take care of it; you got bigger things to worry about. I’ll keep this back room on lockdown, nobody goes in or out. Swear on my honor as an entertainer.” He continued,  placing his hand where his heart would’ve been.

            “Th-thank you.” Chiaki said. “You’re a good fr-riend. H-Hey, you deserve to be a member of our family.”

            “My days are done in that arena.” He dismissed. “I served my time, and now I… Well, I guess I’m retired. My work is over.” He concluded their conversation with a wave of his hand, and made for the office.

            It took him a while to coax panicking and hostile Nagito off the ceiling. So long, in fact, that the six a.m. bell rang before it happened. Nagito was behaving very violently and erratically, and he thrashed, clawed, and bit at Mr. Monobear numerous times. Chiaki tried to calm him down, but he just whined and collapsed against Mr. Monobear’s shoulder. “Ugh, you’re a heavy thing, aren’t you?” He grunted. Nagito’s jaw hung open as he was carried back to his place in Kids’ Cove, where he just twitched and whirred. “Now, you mind yourself, you hear? I know you’re not quite well, but you gotta keep yourself in order. Whatever’s happening, Chiaki and I are gonna fix it right up.” Mr. Monobear reprimanded.

            He sighed and sat down next to Nagito’s half-broken body. “I know it’s hard to be…broken.” He declared. “It’s hard to keep yourself up. But you’ve got so much more than I do. You’ve got a whole life, and a whole bunch of kids who love you. You’ve gotta… J-just remember that they can’t take apart your identity. Who you are. And that can be bad or good, depending on what you do. Make your decisions well.” He rubbed his head idly. “I’m not good at explaining things like this, y’know. I just thought I’d say something. Try to stay okay, little buddy.” Mr. Monobear finished, patting Nagito’s back. He left slowly, watching Nagito over his shoulder. Nagito lifted his head, and then laid it back down and turned away from the door. Mr. Monobear closed the door completely behind him.

            “Thank-k you again, mmz.” Chiaki said as he left.

            “No need.” Mr. Monobear declared. “I’ve gotta get back. You should too, you’ll be alright."

            “I think we’re getting-g r-repaired soon.” Chiaki replied with a small amount of cheer. “We j-just hav-ve to hold out until then, bzzt.”

            “Good luck, then.” Mr. Monobear bade as he left. “I’ll keep that back room safe. Nothing will happen under our watchful eyes.”


	9. I'm a Murder Tramp, Birthday Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the disturbing chapter. I swear that as I was formulating this scene it just kept getting weirder and weirder until it mutated into this piece of horror. This is where the graphic depictions of violence and death come in, as well as a few other generally unsettling themes. Especially what's implied at the end. Eugh. I kinda weirded myself out with that part. And that other part with the boy...  
> Anyway, suffice to say that this chapter is disturbing, but what level of disturbing depends on the reader.

             Harsh light shone through an open doorway, silhouetting a tall, shapely figure that took up most of the space with its broad stance. From the visible width of its chest and hips, it appeared it be female. This was accented by two large, flowering pigtails that flowed from her head and added a distinctive edge to her shape. Her face possessed a certain sheen, an almost plastic-like appearance, that the rest of her did not. Her jaw clicked a little when it moved, and occasionally she could be seen adjusting her jaw or the back of her head. She had the same rosy cheeks as the performing robots, but a few things about her did not quite add up.

            Her outfit was more revealing than anything worn by the robots, and, in fact, it did not match any of theirs. Nothing about her resembled any of the known animatronics. She was taller than Chiaki, shaped differently than Ibuki, and her hair was too pale to be Mikan’s. She was in far too good of a state to have been any of the older robots.

            She was not a robot at all.

            To an untrained eye, her initial appearance could’ve passed for one of them, but anyone with sense would’ve become suspicious before long. She lacked their straightforward movement patterns, and her chest could be seen subtly moving in and out, accompanied by the quiet sounds of breathing. Small, faint veins were visible through her pale skin in some places, and though her skin was nearly perfect, there were a few subtle imperfections here and there. Had she been touched, her skin would’ve been warm and soft, and far from robotic. The only part of her that was smooth and glassy enough to match the exoskeletons of the performing robots was her face.

            Luckily for her, the only ones accompanying her were too innocuous and blinded by excitement to notice details as small as those. She gestured them forward with her right hand, which possessed long, red fingernails. She took a few steps back, the heels of her boots clicking quietly against the stiff flooring. Five small, lean humans followed her, most of them clearing the doorway. The bravest and largest among them took a step forward, his orange hair highlighted by the sharp white light.

            “I’ve never seen her here before…” A small, feminine voice said wondrously. “And I came here just last week, too, and yesterday for a little bit…”

            “That’s Miss Monobear.” The orange-haired one declared. “They never put her out, because they probably weren’t finished with her until today. She’s supposed to be Mr. Monobear’s sister, I think.” He continued, taking a few more bold steps into the room. The other four followed him, all clearing the doorway. It was noticeable that the fifth seemed taller and thinner than any of the others. The door was brushed closed, presumably by the last one to enter. The others looked around cautiously, sticking together in a small group.

            “He doesn’t know that.” One of them muttered. “He’s making stuff up.” The brave one broke off from the group to approach the woman, who was standing in the middle of the room now.

            “Do not be afraid.” Miss Monobear said reassuringly. Her jaw clicked a little as it moved, slightly reinforcing the impression that she was indeed a robot. “You too.” She added, looking past the small congregation at the fifth one, who was leaning against the closed door. It lifted its head slightly and took a few shaky steps forward.

            “What are all these things?” One of the girls wondered. The smaller of the two girls, she had long, elegant blue hair, a pretty, flushed face, and was wearing a sailor outfit. The other girl had paler skin and lavender hair accented by a delicate braid. Among the boys, the largest was the orange-haired one, who was wearing a slightly oversized baseball jersey. The other was very small, and he had messy, spiky hair sticking out in all directions. The gender and identity of the fifth could not be determined. It was too dark and too slight.

            “They will not wake up.” Miss Monobear assured.

            “Heh, she’s pretty…” The orange-haired boy marveled.

            “She’s a _robot_.” One of the girls hissed, elbowing him. Miss Monobear laughed robotically, keeping surprising composure.

            Every moment of this had been planned in excruciating detail. It was going so precisely well that she could scarcely believe it. She was trying desperately to repress the excitement that was quivering through every fiber of her being, pounding through her veins. It would only cause her to make a careless mistake, which she could not afford. She’d spent far too much time planning, waiting, preparing. If but one thing went wrong, she could lose all of it. Nothing would go wrong, though. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

            It was warm in the back room. Incredibly warm. Miss Monobear brushed her pigtails away with one hand, watching the children very carefully. She clenched one hand into a fist, sinking her fingernails into her palm. She knew that the fifth one was there, it was just moving very slightly, roaming like a shadow. It leaned down to Mr. Monobear, who was collapsed on the floor, and gently tapped him with its hand. A faint fizzing noise came from Mr. Monobear’s head, and then he was silent. The fifth child did the same to all of the animatronics, except for Peko and Nekomaru. The other children didn’t seem to notice the fifth, or were intentionally ignoring it.

            The blue-haired little girl was closest to Miss Monobear now, having advanced past the one in the baseball jersey. Miss Monobear crouched down and held out her hand as an offering to the girl. She looked at Miss Monobear strangely, and then took a few small steps toward her. Eventually, with a tiny, pale hand, she reached out and touched Miss Monobear’s hand.

            Miss Monobear looked down and chuckled at her. Ever so delicately, she stood up and raised the girl with her. The blue-haired girl smiled a large, childish smile. All of a sudden, Miss Monobear buried her claws into the girl’s flesh and jerked her forward. Miss Monobear lifted the back of her own skirt briefly and drew out a long, thin kitchen knife. The girl shrieked and pulled away, but she was trapped by Miss Monobear’s much stronger grip. Miss Monobear wielded her knife quickly and deftly, sinking it into the girl’s stomach. Miss Monobear let go of her, and she collapsed against the wall. Blood poured from her wound, coating her white dress and flowing to the floor. Miss Monobear retracted the knife fluidly.

            “Sayaka!” One of the boys screamed. His feet thudded against the ground as he raced over to her body.

            The smallest boy made a mad dash for the door, but Miss Monobear was far taller and stronger than him, and she kicked him down easily, pinning him with her heel. She kicked his chin up before reaching down and cutting open his lower jaw and throat area. With a bizarre lack of concern for the other two, she pulled what appeared to be a thin roll of electrical tape from her brassiere and bound it around the smallest boy’s chin several times, blocking off his wound.

            The purple-haired girl raced for the door, but found that she could not open it. It stung her hand when she grabbed the handle, so she scraped at the door itself, hoping that someone would hear it. Her vision was oddly blurring, the inescapable heat getting to her. She shook and fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

            The red-haired boy sobbed loudly, his hands on Sayaka’s shoulders. With trembling steps, he ran up behind Miss Monobear as she was binding the other boy’s jaw. He seized the knife from where it lay on the floor, contaminated with numerous forms of blood. With one brave stroke, he drew a thin slash along her arm, rather surprised when she actually bled.

            “You’re not a robot.” He cried. “You’re a… an imposter.” Miss Monobear laughed in a bizarrely cheerful manner.

            “Now now, sonny.” She reprimanded softly, making a mockery of Mr. Monobear’s speech patterns. “Such harsh words.” The boy’s hand was shaking like a leaf in the wind, barely holding onto the knife.

            “You killed them.” The boy choked, tears flowing from his eyes. Miss Monobear pried the knife from his hand, seizing him by the wrist and pushing him against the wall. She sank the knife through his hand and into the wall, pinning him there. He struggled, gushing blood from his hand, and tried to pull the knife from the wall.

            Miss Monobear’s shadow fell over the girl by the door, and she managed to scramble to her feet and sprint away. Luckily for Miss Monobear, little girls had long hair. She seized the lavender-haired girl by the little braid in her hair, pulling her back. The girl jerked away, yanking strongly on her own hair. Miss Monobear picked her up by her head and legs, hauling her to the corner where one of the animatronics was pushed. Miss Monobear wrapped one hand around the girl’s mouth, the other one still knit into her hair. She heaved the girl against the robot’s shell, hearing the faint cracking of fragile young bone. She did not count how many times the girl’s head struck the robot’s before blood trickled from her shattered skull. Miss Monobear dropped her small, limp body, leaning her head against the animatronic.

            The red-haired boy had freed himself from the wall, but he had torn open his hand from his middle finger to his wrist. Ragged tendon hung from the hole in his hand, sheathing the broken bone fragments lodged in his flesh. He kept the knife on his other hand and sprinted for the door. He hacked at the handle with the bloody knife, looking back over his shoulder. He struggled with the handle, shifting his weight against the door. He felt the handle stick into the hole in his hand and retracted it immediately. He whirled around and faced Miss Monobear with the knife drawn.

            “You should hand that over, little buddy.” Miss Monobear laughed.

            “Let me out of here.” The boy panted, his face wet with tears and his hand wet with shimmering blood. In the white light, Miss Monobear’s peachy hair looked almost golden.

            “Don’t you want to stay?” Miss Monobear asked in fake sadness. “You’re such a cute little boy.” She ran her hand along the edge of his face, wiping away his tears. He still held the knife to her chest.

            “No.” He sobbed. “I wanna go home…”

            “Do you? Do you?” Miss Monobear asked.

            “Yes.” He panted, pushing the knife against her. Miss Monobear brushed her leg along his body.

            “I’ll let you go if you give me the knife.” Miss Monobear offered. “I don’t want to hurt you, I never did. You’re just too cute!” She added, kissing him on the forehead. He looked at her with a mixture of disgust and desire. He lowered the knife slightly, but did not drop it. “Come on, you’re a good boy.” Miss Monobear urged, dropping to her knees. “Let’s play.”

            “You killed my friends…” He mumbled, almost incredulously. “Why…”

            “Oh, does it really matter?” She chittered, leaning towards him. He tried to step back, but he was pressed against the door. “There’s no profit in valiance, you know.” She added. “Why do you think nobody has come running yet? Hehe, they know that risking your life for others is a fool’s cause.” The boy clenched the knife in his fist as stared into Miss Monobear’s shielded eyes.

            “It does matter!” He shrieked, darting his good hand towards her face. However, when the knife struck her, her head instantly resisted it, and the knife’s tip shattered and broke off. The boy stared at her with wide eyes, seeing that his knife blow had barely even scuffed her. He was utterly baffled by the fact that her arm had bled when he cut it but her face had broken the knife.

            “Oh, dear.” Miss Monobear sighed. “This could have been so much easier.” She rose to her feet and lashed out at him with her foot, swiftly knocking his much smaller body over. He dropped the knife suddenly, landing face down on the floor. He tried to get up, but she already had the knife, and she grabbed him by his shirt immediately. “No turning back now, boy.” She hissed, lifting the sharp-edged broken knife. With her other hand, she heaved him off the ground, watching his feet flail helplessly. Miss Monobear thrust the knife into his right eye several times, gouging it out slowly and crudely.

            She dropped him, knowing he was not quite dead yet. She kicked him again, losing the knife in favor of her fists and sharply-heeled boots. He struggled against her incessantly as she beat him like an animal, but to no avail. She seized his hair and slammed his jaw against the corner of the half-wall, seeing it go slack and discolor immediately. Then she let him go, again.

            He staggered away from her, his foot brushing something on the floor. He whirled around, and through a cloud of blood and blurred vision, he saw the blue-haired girl sitting against the wall. As he stared at her limp body, she slowly opened her glassy eyes and looked at him. “S-Sayaka…” He whispered, slurring around his mostly useless jaw. She did not respond, or even move. She just blinked in agonizing slow motion. “It’s me-“ He tried to plead, but he felt a pair of strong hand clasp around his throat and press tightly on his windpipe. Sayaka’s chest heaved, and she moved no more. The redheaded boy just watched, unable to escape Miss Monobear’s painful chokehold. Eventually he stopped struggling, and she let his invalid body fall to the ground next to Sayaka’s.

            Phase 1 was now complete, and it was time for Phase 2. Miss Monobear rolled the red-headed boy away from the girl who was apparently Sayaka. Sayaka’s body was coated in the sickly pallor of death, her lower body beaming red with blood. The entry wound was now almost indistinguishable among the massive splotch of blood, which had trickled down to her skirt and upper legs. Miss Monobear pulled Sayaka’s legs up, using her other arm to support her back. She held Sayaka like one would hold a baby or a kitten, without closing her marble-like eyes.

            Miss Monobear carried Sayaka’s visceral corpse over to where the bandaged animatronic lay, which wasn’t too far away. She let Sayaka’s legs down as a test, watching how the gash on her stomach reacted. Her entrails glistened through the hole in her flesh as the wound widened. It was a matter of concern for Miss Monobear, for if Sayaka’s organs were to fall out, it would be a definite hazard for Phase 2 of her plan. Unlike the first part, the second half was supposed to be as clean as possible. Miss Monobear pressed her lips together and set Sayaka down next to the bandaged robot.

            She reached her hand behind the robot’s head and found the place where the bandages ended. She unfastened the end and began unwinding the bandages, gradually revealing the barren metal underneath. There was very little left, mostly just exposed plates and a few beams and cut wires. This would be the most difficult job, as she would have to hide both a head and an arm inside the main body. The children were a little older than Miss Monobear had wanted, but they were all small enough. The oldest was 13 at most, and the youngest was around 9 or 10. They would work.

            Miss Monobear cracked open the robot’s chestplate, glad that the older ones shared certain familiar traits with the new ones. This particular robot was most barren on the inside, which would make the difficult just that much easier. Miss Monobear moved the robot’s facial devices out of the way, unhooking its head and staring into the black vortex of its body. She lifted Sayaka again, slowly lowering her petite feet into the animatronic’s empty neck hole. She was fairly skinny, and her narrow prepubescent hips fit easily through the dimensions provided. Her legs were the easy part.  Now was the point where Miss Monobear had to be careful.

            The wound in her stomach opened a little more every time Sayaka’s body was moved, which meant that she needed to be moved as little as possible and as gently as possible. Miss Monobear eased Sayaka’s body into the animatronic’s exoskeleton as slowly as she could, taking care to keep her chest away from the outer edge. She kept the girl’s arms and hair tucked in as well, and all-in-all she fit almost perfectly. Miss Monobear kept Sayaka’s head tucked down as she re-affixed the robot’s head, easily hiding the girl’s. She then re-wrapped the bandages, leaving the animatronic exactly as it had been when she first entered.

            Phase 2 was ¼ of the way complete. Miss Monobear glanced around, looking at the disparate locations of her other victims. She could tuck the smallest boy away next, in which case the hiding order would match the killing order. However, it would probably be a better idea to stow away the red-haired one, since he was not quite dead. He was primarily unconscious, but even between blood loss and oxygen loss, he was only mostly dead.

            She picked him up rather than dragging him, carrying him over to where the tall, broken robot lay, his mouth full of long, sharp teeth. Miss Monobear began to take his head and chest apart, attempting to fit the boy into his exoskeleton. He was a bit large, so she had to dismantle more of the robot this time. Eventually she got his body in, feeling his chest slowly rise and fall while blood seeped from his bruised jaw. Miss Monobear picked the robot’s head back up, brutally shoving it down on the boy’s head. The crossbeams in the robot’s mask pushed against his skull, cracking his temples and shattering his eye sockets. His remaining eye loosened and fell out. As the animatronic’s heavy jaw collided with the boy’s, it shifted his already broken jaw with a sickening wet crunching noise.

            Miss Monobear moved quickly onto the next one, which was the other girl with the lavender hair. She needed to be stuffed into an animatronic with a large number of exposed rings and beams, which made her long hair an issue. It was essentially impossible for her to be forced in there without her hair getting tangled or caught in the mechanisms. Miss Monobear picked the knife up off the floor and brought it back with her to the girl’s body. She lifted the girl’s hair and braided all of it into one, then cut it off as short as possible. The rest of her hair would need to be burned, but that could wait for a less flammable environment.

            Now that the girl’s hair was appropriately short, she would fit into the suit with little problem. It was harder to get this robot’s head off due to it being so broken, but Miss Monobear managed. She fit the girl into the exoskeleton similarly to how she fit the first girl into her respective suit. Both the girls and the robots were similarly sized, so it was fairly easy. The headpiece would be more difficult.

            There were a number of discs and crossbeams in the middle of the robot’s head, which would press down over the girl’s head and probably constrict her skull. Acceptable, since her hair wouldn’t get caught in them anymore. Miss Monobear had to exercise a certain degree of caution around the girl’s already broken skull pieces, much like Sayaka’s stomach. She managed to get the robot’s head over the girl’s without shifting her skull any more than it had been previously. Blood was clumped and matted in the girl’s now-shortened hair, pressed tightly against her skull, which was broken and had shifted slightly, giving her a mutated appearance. The violent discoloration of her face augmented this.

            Miss Monobear shifted the robot’s headpiece down over the girl’s, feeling expected resistance and hearing the expected shifting crack of further skull damage. A fresh burst of blood came from the animatronic’s face, leaking through the collapsed beams and down along the neckline. Miss Monobear wiped it away with the back of her hand, casting a glance towards the door.

            One more left. If the slit in his throat had not already cut off the flow of oxygen to his brain, the tightly-bound tape had asphyxiated him. His face was various shades of blue, ranging from reddish-purples to the icy blue of de-oxygenation. Miss Monobear picked him up by his hair and dragged him over to the last robot, who was the shortest and smallest. The robot twitched, and she sunk her heel through its eye gash. “Thought he took care of you.” She muttered as she retracted her foot from the sea of crackling devices. “Persistent little bastard.” She draped the boy’s carcass over the robot’s hollow build and effectively lifted off the robot’s face mask.

            Following this, she edged the shell around the boy’s limp body as quickly as possible. She lifted the edge of the electrical tape and peeled it off, bracing herself for the inevitable flow of blood afterwards. His eyes weren’t closed; none of their eyes were. All of them stared idly at the ceiling, their eyes coated in a pale layer of dusty glass. Their bodies were stiff and still, and every color except for the ones they should have been. Miss Monobear smiled a little beneath what was now unquestionably a mask as she recovered the robot’s headpiece.

            She re-placed the jointed neck pieces first, knowing that it would push more blood from the boy’s neck. The headpiece might do the same, on top of forcing his eyes out and breaking his teeth away from his jaw. His lower jaw had been cut open, but the bone itself was not broken. She rigged the exoskeleton’s jaw to its neck, keeping too much excess blood from coming out through the bottom. A few more pieces, and Phase 2 would be complete. A wire here, a beam there, and the exoskeleton casing down over the top.

            It was done.

            Not completely, as there was still a bit of after-cleaning to do. There had to be no sign that they had been there at all.

            They.

            Five had entered, four had been killed. The fifth hadn’t left, not at all. He was just hiding. Miss Monobear knew that she could still lure him out with the enchanting call of music.

            “ _I’ve got no strings to hold me down…_ ” Miss Monobear sang, in a quiet, slow, shuddering voice, as her whole body trembled with the excitement of destruction. It wasn’t just about taking lives, or watching empty bodies rapidly decay into unrecognizable monstrosities. It was the despair of loss, the despair of disbelief. They would search forever, never ceasing to cling to their disgusting threads of hope without resolution or revelation. She could hear their worried voices already, see the news reports already. She laughed a bubbly laugh at her own ingenious devices.

            “ _To make me fret, or make me frown._ ” She continued, raising her hands to her head and hooking her claws beneath her mask. She eased it off slowly, revealing a face nearly as smooth and flawless as the mask itself. Sweat gave the convex points of her face a pearly sheen, which was solely due to the irrepressible heat in the parts and service room, not due to nervousness or anxiety. Blood covered her short dress, turning it into an artist’s palette of dark reds. She let the mask fall to the floor with a sound that resonated throughout the otherwise silent room.

            “ _I had strings, but now I’m free…_ ” Miss Monobear crooned as she brushed the side of her hair with her hand, streaking it with half-dried blood.

            “ _There are no strings on me._ ” A deep, rhythmic, eerie voice finished, splendidly accompanying the sight of a tall, lanky figure stepping out of the shadows. Long cords of dark, wispy hair swirled around its entire body, deforming its silhouette. The only noticeable color on it lay in two barren, burning red eyes. Miss Monobear grinned widely as it strode forward, placing its hand on its chest. It, who was presumably a he, uttered a deep, rumbling chuckle. “Hi-ho the me-ri-o, that’s the only way to be.” He spoke more than sang, as he bowed in tribute. Miss Monobear stepped towards him, taking his hand and pulling him forward. “ _I want the world to know, nothing ever worries me._ ” He hummed, staring deeply into her eyes as they shared a villainous smirk. “And what a good job you did.” He added. “Without a hitch, my dear.”

            “Of course.” She flourished. “Thanks to you.”

            “Oh, it was your plan.” He dismissed. “Cease your flattery.”

            “Hmm, but why?” She purred, pulling him towards her. “We have so much to congratulate for.”

            “Then let me congratulate _you_.” He rasped, throwing his other arm around her.

            “How about we dance instead?” She offered, stepping back and twirling him around.

            “We have no music.” He chuckled, not quite as giddy as she was.

            “We can provide.” She replied. “There was more to the song, you know.”

            “Mmh, that is true.” He acknowledged. “ _I’ve got no strings, so I have fun…_ ” Miss Monobear began to dance, guiding him with her own movement. The environment around them ceased to be a beaten-up back room, littered with grimy old robots and ripe with the early scent of putrefaction. It became a ballroom, large and grand, adorned with bright chandeliers and full of the lusty scent of perfume and lace. “ _I’m not tied up to anyone._ ” No more was she clad in a racy, scraggly dress, her skin spattered with blood, but she was spinning in a long ballroom gown, her dark-lined eyes narrowing in an almost sultry fashion. She taught him how to dance in slow, shaky steps, silently correcting him when his unadjusted legs missed a step in their elaborate show.

            He could learn, which made him different from the others, who just stood there absentmindedly, ludicrously happy about everything. He had emotions that no amount of coding could control. He could think, he could feel, he could hate. It was tragic that he was the one who had been bound to be still and under another’s control. But she had fixed that. Nights of tampering had found that the systematic part of him knew _how_ to move independently, he had just been explicitly programmed not to.

            Oh, how she hated those things. All except one. She’d served her time here, learned them inside and out, and she would leave like a hurricane.

            “ _They’ve got strings, but you can see,_ ” He continued to sing, kicking the red-haired animatronic’s head to the side with one of his feet as Miss Monobear created distance between them. She pulled him back to her chest, feeling his legs twitch and nearly collapse. He was unused to moving on his own, and his leg mechanisms were still painfully simplistic. “ _There are no strings on me._ ” He finished in a low, savory tone, his face now an inch from hers. She chuckled at him and stroked his hair.

            “ _You have no strings, your arms is free, to love me by the Zuider Zee._ ” She continued, taking note of his amused expression. “ _Ja, ja, ja, if you would woo, I’d bust my strings for you!_ ” She led him into a number of intricate moves, seeing him stumble in trying to control his gangly body. She shifted him forward, almost as in a foxtrot, and he slipped and fell against the back wall. He appeared embarrassed by this, but she who had once been Miss Monobear did not give him time to recover. She slid down to her knees in front of him, effectively trapping him.

            “Miss Enoshima…” He stuttered, averting his eyes. “This was a little impromptu, wasn’t it? I-I apologize. We should be on our way soon, shouldn’t we?” He stuttered, pulling at his collar.

            “What’s the hurry?” She bubbled. “We have all the time in the world.” She ran her fingers through his hair, then down to his neck and along his arm, where she held his hand. “ _You’ve got no strings, comme ci, comme ca,_ ” She trilled, pushing her body even closer to his. She kissed him almost delicately, refusing to move an inch away. “ _Your savoire-faire is ooh-la-la._ ”

            “Now you’re just being foolish.” He teased, though he was obviously uncomfortable. She leaned her head towards his and stared into the hollows of his eyes.

            “ _I’ve got strings, but entre-nous, I’d cut my strings for you._ ” She sang softly, one of her hands on the side of his neck. It was then that she realized that she did have strings. She’d cut his, she’d taught his body how to move without them. But hers were different. They were smaller, by far, but they held her back. She reached her hand slowly down to the edge of her skirt, sinking her nails into it as though she intended to tear her dress apart thread by thread.

            “What are you doing?” He muttered, giving her a concerned look. She ran one hand along her thigh, the other one teasing up the edge of her skirt. She was bound, eternally, by strings, and she could not taste satisfaction until she was free. “M-Madam…” He continued to object, his eyes filling with the splendor of white skin and dark lace.

            “Madam?” She laughed, the lean muscles of her chest swelling and shrinking with ecstatic breath. “Are you Mr. Monobear now?”

            “N-No, that wasn’t what I meant…” He explained, hesitant but not hostile. “But why did you… Wh-what do you think we’re going to do?” She rubbed his hard-lined shoulders, feeling his eyes roam across her mostly exposed body. Strings, always strings. He knew the pain, and he knew the desperation. The struggle to free oneself. He edged as far back into the wall as he could, part of him still wanting to avoid looking at her. She took her hands off his shoulders, and he dared not follow their path with his eyes.

            She was almost panting now, the blood spots glistening clearly on her chest and legs. She was not yet free from her strings, the bane of her existence, which she had cut from him.  But maybe he was still bound, yes, in the same way she was. There had to be none, on either of them. Not one string, not one stitch, not one single thread.

            No strings. Only blood.


	10. If We Catch a Criminal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a week to update. I wish I had a good excuse.  
> The three people who are actually interested in this may be asking, "Will there be a 7th night?!?" Yes and no. I may write a number of bonus/alternate ending chapters based on the custom night challenges and upload them as a separate work (If you really want me to. But I might do it anyway.) for those who enjoyed the plotless first chapters of this one.  
> Regardless, there's not much more to go, is there?

_Uhh, hello-hello? Uh, what on Earth are you doing there? Didn't you get the memo? The place is closed down, a-at least for a while. We had a... a spare in the back, from the old place. Used to be they only put her out on special occasions, b-but I guess she broke down, and uhh, they couldn't afford to fix her, so they just took parts from her until there was pretty much nothing left. A-all we had were her hands, a couple of beams from her legs, the joint pieces from her arms, the outer casing for her face, and her outfit. I guess that’s where that spare hand came from… But, uh, s-someone used it, the mask and the outfit are gone now. N-none of the robots are acting right anymore…_

_Just finish your shift; it’s safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night right now. We have one more event that we have to put on tomorrow, a-a birthday party. You’ll be on the day shift. Wear your guard uniform, and stay close to the animatronics. Make sure they don’t hurt anyone. For now, just get through the night. When the place re-opens I’ll probably take the night shift myself. Alright, goodnight and good luck._

Chiaki was panicked. As panicked as she could be. She was the only one who had control of herself anymore, and even then, her grip was slipping rapidly. She would have little moments where she’d black out, for a few seconds or a few minutes. She couldn’t do anything anymore. She couldn’t reboot anyone else, she couldn’t reboot herself, she couldn’t access the mainframe, she couldn’t engage emergency mode, and she could barely hold on to what she had left. Every human she saw was a threat, and the severities changed sporadically.

Everybody else just stared. They pushed the humans away, especially the adults, and they jumped around and twitched all the time. Ibuki was locked in an emotionless state, and she wouldn’t talk to Chiaki. Hajime would, but he didn’t seem to understand what Chiaki was saying. Mikan just stood and quivered and looked over her shoulder. All their signals were out of whack: Ibuki and Hajime were being read as heavily altered, Mikan was being read as unnaturally distressed, Nagito was in critical condition, and Izuru…

Izuru was giving off no signal. As far as Chiaki knew, he was completely gone. She hadn’t been over to check on him, but she absolutely had to tonight. It was no longer a matter of question. It was, however, a difficult enough job to get off the stage. She could barely keep her functions up enough to stagger around the building, much less perform cohesive tasks. But she had to. For her family.

Her legs shaking, she stepped off the show stage, overwhelmed by the swarm of error messages confronting her. Her right eye flickered and displayed its error mode, which cut into the darkness. She could hear radio interference crackling from an unknown source, which she assumed was Nagito. He had been acting the strangest out of all of them. He was typically so patient and gentle and carefree, but as of late he’d been bizarrely and dangerously aggressive.

Chiaki stumbled towards the hallway, noting the sound of Nagito scurrying over the ceiling behind her. His interference flickered on and off. Chiaki tried to ignore it and headed for the hall. At the end, a door opened, letting a number of formidable shapes walk out. Chiaki felt slightly reassured when she saw Mr. Monobear exit with the group. He might help her.

The old robots seemed to be acting different. They looked like they were were scanning for something, and as soon as the faceless one saw Chiaki, she sprinted over to her. The faceless creature stared straight at Chiaki’s face, groaning something in a voice that was not hers. “ _Find her…_ ” She rasped. “ _K-kill her…_ ” Once she determined that Chiaki was not who she was looking for, she sighed a ragged sigh and backed away.

“Kill-l-l who?” Chiaki asked, tightly gripping her backpack strap.

“Kill her…” The other robot growled. She did not give an actual answer. Chiaki walked down to the end of the hall, where Mr. Monobear was leaning against the doorway.

“Hey-hey.” She greeted softly. He lifted his head slowly, looking at her as though he didn’t recognize her. The light in his left eye was out. “It’s m-me, Chiaki.”

“Chiaki!” Mr. Monobear exclaimed, in his normal voice. He dashed towards her, letting his head collapse to her chest. “Oh, Chiaki…” He whimpered. “I-I tried…”

“Zzm, tried to do what?” She questioned.

“I tried to…” He mumbled. “S…” He growled, in a voice far too deep and distorted to be his. “S-A-V-E T-H-E-M.” Chiaki was taken aback by his sudden change in vocal tone.

“Save th-them?”

“I tried… I t-told you...” He gasped, gripping Chiaki’s shirt in his fists. “I couldn’t… couldn’t… _**save them**_.” His deep voice returned for the last two words.

“Who are they-y?”

“I told you I’d keep watch over the back room.” He nearly cried. “But I couldn’t. He disabled me.”

“He?”

“Y-yes. He. Th-the fifth child…” Mr. Monobear choked.

“The fifth child?” Chiaki tried to ask, but Mr. Monobear made a strange noise and let go of her, lifting his head. He looked at her sharply, seizing her by the bib around her neck.

“Are you…?” He asked in an entirely new voice. He stared at her face for a moment, just like the other one had, and then let go of her neck. “You are not her.” He grunted, immediately abandoning Chiaki.

“W-what happened to them?” Chiaki wondered aloud. Whispers of “ _Find her, kill her._ ” Could be heard traveling through the entire hall, spoken by various small voices.

It then occurred to Chiaki that she was alone. There was nobody left to help her. Everything she had to do, she had to do by herself now.

Lost in thought and a sea of malfunctions, she failed to notice a vague skittering sound spin in circles above her. Out of the empty blackness, something lunged down and struggled to get a grip on her smooth, hard exterior with a mouth full of long, sharp teeth. Chiaki grappled with it, trying to pry apart its jaws using what strength she had left. The screeching noise that it emitted signaled that it was most definitely Nagito.

“N-Nagito!” Chiaki exclaimed. “What are you doing-g-g, zzhm?” Nagito refused to let go of her. Chiaki was afraid that his teeth would leave dents in her exoskeleton, with the way he was biting down. As she hooked her fingers under his upper jaw, she felt his grip suddenly release. Chiaki knew that it wasn't her who had so suddenly pulled him away; she wasn't that strong right then.

It was the faceless robot, exhibiting abnormal strength as she held Nagito up with one arm. The redheaded animatronic got behind him and tugged at Nagito's jacket with his hook hand, emitting a loud screech. Within a moment, all of the old animatronics had gathered around and were pulling on Nagito in different directions.

“S-s-stop!” Chiaki hissed. “Please d-don't hurt-t him, bzzt!” They ignored her and kept crowding Nagito, pulling at his hair, ears and limbs. Nagito swiveled and tried to bite and claw at them, but they seized every part of him that they could, successfully restraining him.

“ _Is that her?_ ” One of them hissed, in an unusually demure voice. They pulled at his jacket, tearing it from his arms. Nagito buzzed at them and kicked his legs.

“ _Yesss._ ” The faceless one snarled.

“ _No, no!_ ” The red-haired one cried, tearing into Nagito's shirt with his hook hand. “ _Look at it!_ ” The faceless one cocked her head, keeping her hand clamped firmly on Nagito's hair. The red-haired one tore holes through Nagito's shirt, revealing the pale skin-like covering stretched over his endoskeleton. Unlike the others, Nagito had plating left in very few areas of his body. Only his chest, his head, his hands, and his shoulders were properly plated; the rest of him was just a layer of false skin wrapped around his endoskeleton. The absent plating made him look hideously emaciated. “ _No, it's male, see?_ ” The redheaded one continued, ripping Nagito's shirt away from his chestplate.

“ _It's not her._ ” Mr. Monobear, who was no longer Mr. Monobear, declared, waving his hands in a dismissive manner. The faceless one growled and threw Nagito down, turning away disgustedly. She shambled off with a guttural grunt as Nagito slowly lifted his head. The red-haired robot discarded Nagito's jacket and the now-tattered remnants of his shirt beside him before heading down the main hallway. Nagito gazed at Chiaki through a mess of long, wavy hair, the look in his eyes one of utter hatred and deeply saddened distress.

“Nagito...” Chiaki whispered, kneeling beside his weak body. His cover layer sat loosely over his crossbeams, like a the skin of a human who had once been full-figured suddenly thrust into brutal starvation. He looked downright grotesque, every single rod sticking into his skin and every single twitch of a gear or spring clearly visible from the outside. “It's ok-kay.” Chiaki murmured, laying her hand on his shoulder. He still shrunk back and whined at her. “ _Please_.” Chiaki begged. “Let-t me help you.” Nagito backed up shakily on all fours, his limbs trembling crazily. He whirred in Chiaki's direction, glaring at her powerfully.

“N-Nagito, I'm sorry, hhmm.” Chiaki whispered. “What's wr-rong, hzz-zt?” She asked, reaching forward to stroke his ears gently. However, as she brushed his hair, he screeched and sank his teeth into her hand, shaking it wildly. “Nagito!” She demanded. “Let g-go!” Nagito dropped her hand and crawled off as fast as he could, seemingly unable to rise to his feet.

“Nagito, wait!” She cried after him. “Y-You left your...your c-c-clothes here.” She breathed, seizing Nagito's shirt and jacket from the floor. So many things had gone wrong by now that Chiaki was starting to lose hope. First a walking skeleton, then a disappearing puppet and a seemingly possessed gentleman, and finally a shirtless, malfunctioning and possibly murderous robot on the loose. “Nobody helps me in this house.” Chiaki huffed. She would have laughed at her own awkward joke if she hadn't been focusing too hard on other things.

Chiaki left the main hallway, rendering it empty for once in a great while. The night person continued to spastically shine their flashlight down the hall, sweat beading on their forehead. They could hear undefined, childish whispers roaming through the air vents, which sounded somewhat like “ _Find her... K-kill her..._ ”

In an all-too-sudden burst, the blue-haired animatronic was in the office, standing limply in front of the desk. The night person threw on their mask, but she caught them and wrestled it off. She snarled at the night person, causing them to fall backwards in their chair.

“ _You are unobservant._ ” A flat voice pronounced from the doorway, its owner walking in on stiff legs. It was the burned robot, her braids hanging beside her broken head. She stumbled inside, brushing the night person's face with her mangled hand wires. “ _That is not her_.” She stated, though she had been previously unable to speak. “ _We have no business here_.” The burned one added, walking out. The blue-haired one glared at the night person, uttering a low growl sound before she followed her comrade out.

“But... But why though?” The night person mumbled, not even bothering to push themselves up as they stared after the two broken robots.

“Hello.” A very small, dull voice greeted a mostly empty hallway. Chiaki had been freaked out by childish voices enough that night, but this was one she knew.

“Mikan?” She questioned.

“Yes.” Mikan breathed in a relieved manner. “Chiaki! Are you okay?”

“S-sort of.” Chiaki rasped. “Are y-you okay?”

“I think so.” Mikan squeaked, walking up to Chiaki and embracing her. Chiaki was a bit taken aback by this, but she accepted it. She looked down at Mikan, and noticed something strangely shiny wrapped around her neck. She slowly moved her hand over to examine it.

“M-Mikan, mmh... Why is there a balloon attached to a wire tied around your neck?” Chiaki asked.

“W-Well, you know that I'm very clumsy...” Mikan stuttered. “I accidentally got a piece of wire tied around my neck when I was in the back room the other night. I couldn't get it off! Whenever I tried, it just got tighter and tighter! The kids just thought it was a necklace, and it made me feel a little better, s-so I kept it on... The balloon I added for comfort.”

“Hey-Hey, let me see it.” Chiaki requested, easing Mikan’s hair off the back of her neck. The wire was indeed fixed rigidly around her neck, pressing against the articulated spine in her endoskeleton. Chiaki was looking for one specific spot, where a latch in the exoskeleton shell hid a small button on the endoskeleton. That particular button was the emergency shutdown switch, which, when pressed, would immediately power off all functions contained within the robot and they would have to be manually re-activated.

Sure enough, the length of wire that Mikan had accidentally wound around her neck was pressing against her shutdown button.

“Mikan, k-khh, h-how long have you had this?” Chiaki asked in amazement.

“Um, s-since the other day, when we saw Peko’s endoskeleton over by the prize corner.” Mikam mumbled. “I’m sorry!” She added hastily. “I-I couldn’t get it off, and I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone by asking them to take it off for me…”

“No, Mik-kan…” Chiaki said urgently. “This-s is important-t-t. It could be ver-ry helpful, mmz.”

“How?” Mikan asked tentatively.

“Bzzt, what it’s doing is-s-sz tricking your-r systems, mmh, into thinking that they’re shut-t-ting down all the time.” Chiaki explained. “M-Mikan, can I see the back of your head for a moment?”

“O-Okay…” Mikan replied quietly. Chiaki actually had to reach upwards in order to touch Mikan’s head, as Mikan was notably taller than her. Chiaki searched through her purple-black hair until she found the subtle ridge she was looking for, whereupon she hooked her nails under it and opened the panel on the back of her head. “Chiaki, why are you opening my head?” Mikan inquired.

“I h-have to see s-something.” Chiaki replied hurriedly. She had tried it already, on Ibuki. She remembered standing there, her hand affixed to Ibuki’s head, desperately trying, over and over again, with no success. She flicked a drive from her wrist – the same one she used to access the network (Which she also couldn’t do anymore) – and tentatively reached into the circuitry inside Mikan’s head. Chiaki found what she was looking for, and she slowly pushed her wrist-drive into the slot on the back of Mikan’s head.

 _Initiate manual reboot._ Chiaki commanded.

“Chiaki? W-Why…” Mikan whimpered, but she was cut off abruptly. _Command accepted._

“ _System reboot.”_ Mikan said, in a voice that wasn’t actually hers, but belonged to her programming. It was a voice quite like the one Peko had uttered her last word in. Chiaki felt a flood of relief for the first time in what felt like an eternity. She still stood there, perched with her hand in Mikan’s head, as she internally watched Mikan’s system restart. _Error detected. Safeguarding._

“Hello…” Mikan greeted as she re-awoke. _Preserving non-corrupted memory._ “Good morning, everyone!” She cheered, her eyes glossy and hazed. “My name is Mikan Tsumiki, and I’m the balloon dispenser here at Mr. Monobear's pizzeria! I'm programmed with a medical database, and I can handle most first-aid situations, even urgent ones!” Mikan whirred a little as her accessible memories returned. _Certain functions have been dangerously altered and cannot be restored without possible damage. Enable functions? --- > No._

 _Accepted. Facial recognition service unavailable. Emergency functions unavailable._ “Hmm, Chiaki?” Mikan beckoned quietly. “Why are my emergency protocols turned off?”

“Zzz, they’ve been c-corrupted.” Chiaki stated. “That’s t-the first thing the v-v-virus destroyed, along with your-r facial recognition system.”

“Okay…” Mikan whispered. Chiaki slowly withdrew her hand, flicking the attachment back into her wrist, and then closed Mikan’s head plate.

“Do you feel okay?” Chiaki asked.

“Yes.” Mikan replied. “Much better now.”

“Mmh, it’s probably only a temporary fix-x.” Chiaki mumbled. “But it sh-sh-should hold you ov-ver until we can g-get repaired.”

“Um, thank you.” Mikan said awkwardly.

“N-No, thank _you_.” Chiaki replied. “I need, hhm... I n-need your help.”

“I-I’m not usually very helpful…” Mikan stammered. “But I'll try my best!”

“Good.” Chiaki buzzed. “You’re th-the only one left, bzz, who can help m-m-me.”

“Eek!” Mikan squealed. “That’s a lot of pressure! B-But I’ll still do what I can!” Chiaki nodded in acknowledgement.

“What’s im-mportant right n-now is, zzs, that we ch-check Izuru’s basket, f-first.” She declared.

“Alright!” Mikan pronounced, with unusual determination.

“C-Come on, we should hurry-y-y.” Chiaki urged, turning back towards the main room. “We have a l-lot of things to do, mmz.” Chiaki stepped into the main room slowly, glancing upward and scanning the ceiling. “Be careful.” Chiaki warned Mikan.

“Are there scary things on the loose?” Mikan asked worriedly.

“Y-Yes.” Chiaki answered flatly. “Nagito is malf-function-ning badly-y, and I don't know where he went. Also, h-he's not wearing a sh-shirt.”

“D-Doesn't that break the indecency protocols?” Mikan asked, shocked.

“Yes, it does.” Chiaki agreed. Everybody was familiar with the indecency protocols, which were put in place to assure that the pizzeria remained a family-friendly location. The indecency protocols kept them from swearing or using any other possibly offensive words, phrases, or gestures, as well as explicitly preventing them from removing their clothing, with the exception of accessories. “But the indecency pr-rotocol only keeps-s us from taking our own c-clothes off, bzzt. The br-r-roken robots took-k his off. Not that h-he shouldn't, hhe, have at least put-t his shirt back on, according to the protocol ins-st-tructions.”

“The broken robots are out, too?” Mikan whimpered. “Couldn't they help us?” Chiaki frowned, walking slowly as she led Mikan to the prize corner.

“They're n-not acting right, mmz.” Chiaki buzzed concernedly. “They're all-l talking weir-rdly, and th-they won't listen to me.”

“Oh...” Mikan gasped. “S-Something bad is definitely going to happen.”

“Hmm, it-t may have already happened.” Chiaki sighed, slowly and sadly. Mikan played with the bandages on her arm worriedly, but she continued to follow Chiaki's lead.

When they got near the prize corner, Chiaki held up her hand as a command for Mikan to stop. Izuru's gift basket had been knocked over, but his music box still seemed to be playing. Chiaki stepped forward as slowly as possible, peering over at the wreckage. Something stirred among crumpled wrapping paper, uttering a distorted, growling screech. It tore through a length of ribbon with what seemed to be teeth, its hands spasming madly.

“Nagito's h-here.” Chiaki whispered sharply.

“Is he okay?” Mikan asked with concern.

“I d-don't know.” Chiaki responded. “He was v-very aggressive earlier-r-r. I don't know if w-we should appr-r-roach him.” Nagito spun around in a frantic circle, his interference noises now ragingly loud. He raked his nails down the side of the collapsed box, generating a fierce ripping sound.

“Um, Chiaki?” Mikan asked as quietly as she could. “That's not Izzy's music, is it?” Chiaki paused and listened for a moment, trying to hear the music notes above Nagito's tearing and thrashing. Chiaki knew the song that played from Izuru's music box very well; she had even memorized the words. Sure enough, when she listened closely, the notes she heard formed an entirely different song.

“It's-s not...” Chiaki marveled. “It's not-t Pop Goes the Weasel, either-r-r. I... I d-don't know what it is, mmhe.”

Shrieking, Nagito jumped up onto the prize counter itself. He hunched like a cat on a fence, glaring at the music box. With one sudden, violent movement, she swiped at it, jumped back off the counter, and sprinted away. He managed to miss Chiaki and Mikan on his way.

The music box fell, but it did not shatter, and it continued to play its gentle song. Chiaki stayed still for a moment before walking hastily towards the prize corner. Mikan followed her, as was expected. Chiaki leaned down beside the counter, examining the music box. She lifted it and ran her fingers along its edges, turning it over several times.

“This isn't his music-c box.” Chiaki stuttered. “It's diff-f-ferent.”

“What's it playing?” Mikan wondered. Chiaki remained silent, eyes and ears fixed on the music box. From nowhere and everywhere at the same time, a strangely familiar female voice began singing, perfectly in tune with the music.

“ _Go to sleep, little baby._ ”Chiaki turned her head in every direction, searching for the source of the sound, but it seemed to move randomly. “ _Go to sleep, little baby._ ”

“Kyaaa! What is that?” Mikan squeaked.

“I don't know.” Chiaki whirred quietly. From elsewhere, Nagito made a noise that could only be described as a rageful grinding sound. He scraped along the ceiling, his static noises louder than ever. He was moving a lot and moving quickly, like he was trying to find something he could never find.

“ _You and me and the devil makes three, don't need no other lovin' baby._ ” The phantom voice laughed a pale, light, almost loving laugh, its source still a mystery. Chiaki clenched her right hand into a fist, bracing herself for an attack.

“Where is it coming from?” Mikan whimpered, wringing her hands nervously.

“I-I can't tell.” Chiaki mumbled.

“ _Go to sleep, you little baby._ ” The voice continued. Chiaki knew she had heard it before. Those exact words, perhaps, or very close to them. “ _Go to sleep, you little baby._ ”

“That's th-the person who used-d to be in the office during... Hheh, during-g the day.” Chiaki said. “I h-heard her singing once...” Nagito whirred loudly from somewhere near the hallway. “It's bother-ring Nagito... Maybe she's doing it on purpose." Chiaki added, rising from her knees.

“ _Come lay your bones on the alabaster stones, and be my ever-lovin' baby._ ” The former day guard's voice echoed. Chiaki, in a sudden burst of apparent anger, lifted the music box from the floor and threw it back down, utterly destroying it. The music stopped immediately, and the strange voice quit along with it. A mournful whir from Nagito heralded the end of the song.

“Iz-z-zy's not h-here. Hhz, we have a l-lot to do.” Chiaki uttered in a nervous tone. “Come on, Mikan-n.” Chiaki took off towards the hallway, Mikan stumbling behind her along the way.

Chiaki made haste to the hall, but once she got to the corner, she became much slower and more cautious. And rightfully so, for the old red-haired robot appeared out of thin air once they arrived at the parts and service room's door. Chiaki took an offensive stance, not able to predict how he would act.

He seized Chiaki's bib with his hook hand, staring into her face. He made a noise that sounded like a hissing breath as he cast her away, now sure that she was not who he was looking for. He shoved past her and gave Mikan a once-over, growling discontentedly. Mikan shrunk back, but her eyes widened suddenly as he stared her down. She then moved towards him, placing her hands on his jaw.

“ _Don't touch meee..._ ” He breathed, pulling Mikan's hand off his jaw.

“P-Please!” Mikan begged. “You're hurt! I can help!” She began to rapidly unwind the bandages on her arm.

“ _You cannot help me._ ” He puffed, continuing to resist Mikan, who was weaker than him.

“I can!” She cried. “J-Just let me...” He snarled and pushed her away, causing her to fall over.

“ _Do not touch me._ ” He insisted, walking away to an unknown destination.

“Are you ok-k-kay?” Chiaki asked, leaning down to help Mikan to her feet.

“I'm fine.” Mikan insisted, taking Chiaki's hand and slowly rising to her feet. “But he's not...”

“What do you mean, mmh?” Chiaki whispered. “Y-You said he was h-hurt, hey.”

“He is...” Mikan whined. “He's bleeding.” Mikan slowly lifted her right hand, the tips of her fingers lightly smeared with something very red in color.

“Bl-leeding?” Chiaki questioned. “Are you s-sure?”

“Yes.” Mikan answered resolutely. “My hands are able to recognize and analyze human bodily fluids. It's definitely blood.” Mikan's body trembled strangely for a moment. “Healthy blood...” She muttered sadly. “Type AB, I think.” Mikan sighed and re-wound the bandages on her arm.

“He's a r-r-robot, hhm.” Chiaki muttered. “He shouldn't be able to bleed-d-d.”

“He was releasing gases, too.” Mikan added. “I didn't have time to analyze them.” Most of the animatronics were able to detect smoke and toxic gases in the air, but Mikan had extra functions for medical analysis.

Chiaki looked worriedly down the hallway at the night person. A deep noise that could have been either laughter or terrified sobbing rumbled from the cracked door to one of the party rooms. Mikan whimpered and edged closer to Chiaki.

“Ch-chiaki...” Mikan mumbled. “Do you think...” She did not finish her sentence.

“I hav-v-ve to talk to the night person-n.” Chiaki stated, her face fixed in a look of determination. “I need-d to tell them, bzzt.” Chiaki started to walk down the hallway, Mikan still following her slowly.

The night person was visibly freaking out, wringing their hands and rubbing their face in exasperation. The old robots had been unexpectedly aggressive and were constantly going in and out of the office, though they seemed to have already confirmed that the night person wasn't who they were looking for. The night person hadn't seen any of the toy animatronics besides Nagito, who had been darting around in the hallway earlier.

They were almost a little relieved to see Chiaki in the glare of their flashlight. She was familiar, at least, and probably the most trustworthy among them. They still put their mask on as Chiaki entered, in order to be safe. Chiaki paused in front of the desk, her skirt flowing gently in the breeze her brisk pace generated.

“You n-need to list-t-ten to me now.” Chiaki choked. “Th-th-those old robots, s-someone... Nne, someone did something b-bad to them-m. There's bl-lood coming f-from them. I don't know who i-it was, but th-they... They k-k-killed someone, I think.” Chiaki was just sputtering at this point, her entire body quivering from overload. “P-please, h-help us...”

“You!” A voice snarled from behind Chiaki. Thinking fast, Chiaki siezed the night person's flashlight and shone it down the dark hall, glimpsing a clear silhouette of Ibuki, who raised her arm and pointed past Chiaki and at the night person. “You killed Peko!” She accused, loudly and violently, her arm trembling slightly. Chiaki dropped the flashlight back onto the desk.

“Ibuk-ki!” Chiaki cried, darting past Mikan and back into the hallway. She managed to stop Ibuki before she charged headlong into the office, but only scarcely. “Th-they didn't kill Peko, nmm!” Chiaki exclaimed.

“I have no idea what's going on!” Mikan squealed, still in the office.

“You're telling me...” The night person whimpered.

“Pek-k-ko is not dead-d!” Chiaki cried, holding Ibuki back. “Hhzz, she's just been taken apart-t. She can-n be fix-x-xed. She's just-t resting, hhe, in the back r-room.”

“No, I'm pretty sure that she's in the right air vent that leads to the office.” Ibuki said flatly.

“She c-can't be.” Chiaki declared.

“But I saw her.” Ibuki stated. Chiaki gave her a sideways look, and paused to think for a moment.

“I-I will deal with-th it.” Chiaki replied. “Hhey, you need to go back-k to the stage.” She urged. Ibuki looked past Chiaki and into the office, standing very still for a moment.

“Alright.” Ibuki said at last. With slow, hesitant movements, she turned around and walked back down the hallway, casting numerous glances over her shoulder. Chiaki waited until Ibuki was out of sight before backing into the office. Mikan was inspecting the night person while talking to them quietly. Both of them looked towards Chiaki as she entered.

“C-Can I use this?” Chiaki asked quietly, picking up the night person's flashlight. The night person nodded vigorously, not wanting to offend her. Chiaki moved over to the right vent entrance and kneeled down in front of it. She clicked the flashlight on and shone it down the metallic corridor, surprised when its glow actually hit something. Chiaki's eyes widened as that something began to move. It raised one long, spindly arm and pulled its shiny, distorted body forward, emitting a horrible grinding, creaking sound. Chiaki backed away, turning the flashlight off, as the strange creature stuck its weird-looking arm out of the vent.

It pulled its head out, its large white eyes shining as brightly as twin moons. Mikan and the night person looked over to see Chiaki backed halfway across the room, then followed her gaze over to where the thing had managed to pull itself onto the floor. It took it several tries to stand up, during which the night person began to shiver uncontrollably and Mikan put her bandaged hand over her mouth.

The tangled monstrosity rose to what might have been feet, and then Chiaki saw that its left hand was clamped on something that was still in the vent. It stumbled towards the night person's desk, slowly dragging something deceptively large behind it. The thing it was dragging clanked a little as the creature pulled it out. The night person lifted their monitor up to their face with trembling hands, and Mikan shrieked and put her hands over her eyes, retracting herself into the shadows.

The thing was now standing in front of the desk, very tall and intimidating, its fingers knit through a mass of grey hair attatched to what looked like a limp dead body. It made noises like speech, but they were staggered and hard to decipher. Chiaki darted over to it, and it turned to look at her. They stared eachother down for a moment, Chiaki trying to hear what it was saying.

“Peko...” Chiaki whispered. This thing was Peko's endoskeleton, no doubt about that. It was hauling its own exoskeleton around, somehow not dropping it despite how weak it was on its own. “Wh-why are you out here, mmne?” Peko had been shut down. She shouldn't have been able to re-activate unless she was re-activated manually.

“S-S A...” Peko stammered. “Saa-a... V-E-E...”

“Save?” Chiaki asked. Peko nodded, her limbs and head twitching spastically.

“T H-H-H...” Peko continued, her jaw clicking as it moved randomly.

“S-Save them?” Chiaki urged, seizing Peko's exposed shoulders.

“Y-Y-EE-S-S.” Peko screeched, nearly collapsing into Chiaki's arms. Chiaki reached around the back of Peko's head and flicked her goodnight switch, feeling the endoskeleton fall against her and hearing the resonating 'thunk' as she dropped the exoskeleton.

“Mikan...” Chiaki began. “H-help me get Peko's body-y-y back to the s-s-szz-ervice room.” Mikan peered out from behind her hands and then scurried around the desk to where Chiaki was. Chiaki adjusted the position of Peko's endoskeleton, shifting its weight onto her shoulders. Mikan delicately touched Peko's shell's hair, then immediately withdrew her hand. When she was sure it was okay, she reached down and grabbed Peko's hair like she'd seen the endoskeleton do.

Chiaki began walking back down the hallway, and Mikan followed her at a much slower pace. The night person just cowered and stared after them. They watched Chiaki and Mikan through flashlight glare until they were both inside the parts and service room.

As Chiaki peered into the murky darkness of the parts and service room, her eyes adjusting to the light level, she saw something. She wasn't sure what it was at first, as the broken robots were all outside. It was collapsed against the back wall, much like the blue-haired one had been before, but it was not her. It was too large and too dark. It appeared to be a black-ish purple in color, aside from its eyes and teeth, which were an almost luminescent white. At first, Chiaki believed it to be Mr. Monobear, based on the shape of its hair and ears, but as it twitched and lifted its head, it changed form. Its hair flowered out, blooming into two spectral pigtails, and the thick center of its body narrowed, molding curves along its hips and chest.

Out of nowhere, it lunged at Chiaki, but it did not touch her before her vision shut off. She dropped Peko's endoskeleton, which hit the floor with a crunch, as her world was enveloped in endless blackness, interrupted by only two rendered words.

it's me.

“Chiaki?” Mikan called. Chiaki stood frozen and quivering, and did not say anything. “Chiaki?” Mikan repeated louder, laying her hand on Chiaki's shoulder. Chiaki's vision began to return, albeit gradually. “Chiaki, are you okay?” Mikan asked tentatively, waving her hand in front of Chiaki's eyes.

“Y-Yes, I think, mmn...” Chiaki answered, pressing her hand against her forehead.

“Did you see that thing too?” Mikan continued, placing her free hand back on Chiaki's shoulder to steady her. Chiaki nodded. “I-It was just there, and then it turned sort of gold and... disappeared.” Mikan mumbled nervously.

“I s-saw it l-lunge at me.” Chiaki stated. “And then-n, hmm...my eyes shut off.” Chiaki turned and looked around.

“You dropped Peko's endoskeleton.” Mikan informed her. “I-I think you might've broken her...” Mikan crouched beside Peko's fallen endoskeleton and looked at it worriedly.

“She'll b-be okay-y.” Chiaki stuttered. However, as she lifted Peko's endoskeleton, tiny pieces fell through her crossbeams and clattered to the floor. “She'll be fine.” Chiaki repeated. She hauled Peko's endoskeleton back up onto her shoulders and carried her to the corner.

Nekomaru's broken pieces were still strewn about in the back corner, but they seemed to have been cleaned up a little. Chiaki lowered Peko's endoskeleton to the floor slowly, in order to avoid breaking her any further. Mikan positioned her exoskeleton beside it.

Chiaki led Mikan back out without a word. Mikan followed diligently, but still with a few scared glances over her shoulder. “We-e-e need to find Nagito... Hhe.” Chiaki mumbled. “I've got his shirt-t in my back-k-kpack. We sh-should talk to H-Hajime and Ibuki-i-i too.” Mikan nodded, but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, the hallway was silent for once in a great while. Time was running out for the night person, who was amazed that they had lasted so long with all the robots breathing down their neck. They almost physically felt the passage of time, surrounded by a strange feeling of euphoric peace. There was nothing lurking in either of the vents, and no strange noises were coming from the hallway. No deep, rough laughter, no tinny music, no crackling interference.

And then, as quickly as the peace arrived, it left via the quiet shuffling of footsteps from the long hallway. The night person lunged forward and grabbed their flashlight, which had been abandoned by Chiaki when she left. They flashed it down the corridor, and what it illuminated was the last thing they expected.

They had never seen anything like it before, in five long nights at this place. What they first noticed were its pigtails, adding an extra dimension to its silhouette and matching the curvature of its body. Unlike the dismantled robots, it held a wide stance, feet thrust apart. The others all leaned or stood stiffly to accommodate for the balance they lacked due to missing pieces. Also unlike the others, it seemed mostly intact. Its exterior was scuffed all over, and its (Her?) dress was threadbare in most places and tattered around the skirt. The only piece she was missing was one of her hands. Her wrist seemed dented, and a few shiny pieces of beams and extra wiring hung from it. Her other hand was fully in place, resting against her hip. Her jaw hung open, displaying rows of silvery teeth, and it was oddly skewed.

There were no lights in her eyes, which were hollow and empty, and no machine parts glistened within her gaping mouth. A few wires appeared to be sticking out of her eyes and ears, but that was it.

The night person only had a few seconds to take all this in before their flashlight fizzed and shut off, and they were unable to turn it back on. They sat there for a moment, bathing in the terror of helplessness, praying for the melodic call of the six a.m. alarm. Panicked, they pulled up the monitors, looking for some sign of her in the main hall or the party rooms. And where was Chiaki, and Mikan, and Nagito?

Their body stiff with fear, they instinctively retracted the monitors. The first thing that came to their attention was her.

She was there, in the office, but she wasn't standing up anymore. She was sitting down on the left-hand side of the office, her knees together and her arms at her sides. The night person managed to get a closer look at her, seeing how thoroughly damaged her exterior was, and how out-of-place her lower jaw was. What might have been blood was smeared along it, from between her metallic teeth, and had been daubed around her endless eyes. There were, in fact, wires sticking out of her orifices and the empty stump of her wrist. Oil and blood had discolored her dress, and she was wearing a petite crown on top of her thick hair. It may have once been extravagant, but it was now dented and broken.

The night person, acting on what they knew, grabbed their mask and held it in front of their face. Their hands were trembling so madly that it was only situated for a moment before it fell to the floor. At that point, the night person thought that she seemed somewhat transparent. As they watched, she faded away rapidly, and was gone within seconds. They sat very still for a few moments, cautiously lifting their monitor. However, as they did, the camera went out and the monitor turned pitch black, accented by two words rendered in pixels:

it's me.

The blissful sound of six a.m. hit, and they dropped the monitor immediately and made their way down the hallway as quickly as possible. They heard a very light laugh that was not Mikan's ring in their ears, and looked back over their shoulder into the office. It was apparently empty of any material being.

As they walked quietly past the party room doors, the same voice began singing in a whispery tone.

“ _Up and down the city road..._ ” The voice's source ran like water from the office doorway to the opposite end of the hall, biting like fire at the night person's heels.

“ _And in and out the Eagle..._ ” The singer seemed to dart in and out of every single party room, coaxing four blood-stained faces to emerge from their respective rooms. The night person engaged full sprint mode as they heard a different strange voice screech ' _find her!_ ' from one of the party rooms.

“ _That's the way the money goes..._ ” The voice intercepted the night person at the main room's entrance, almost beckoning the old robots towards them. The night person heard them creaking and whirring as they groaned ' _k-kill her_ ' from the hall, and they burst with full speed to the front door, slamming it behind them.

“ _...goes the weasel._ ” The strange singer hummed, in time with the slam of the front door. Chiaki walked to the hall entryway, seeing a tall figure glaring through the darkness. It emitted and anguished wail, slamming itself against the wall. Another came up behind it and brushed into the parts and service room. That same laugh/cry noise from earlier rose from somewhere closer to the office, accompanying two lumbering forms who made their way into Chiaki's vision range. The faceless thing laid their hand on the shoulder of the one who had shoved himself against the wall, coaxing it into following her.

A shorter figure followed them, its deep semi-laughter resonating for one last time as it stared down the hall at Chiaki. Chiaki started after it, but it turned away from her and closed the door to the parts and service room behind it. She slammed her fists against it, having gotten there a split second too late. She lifted her head, and through vision blurred from the constant assault on her internal machinations, she gazed at the sign that had once red, 'Parts & Service'. Her arms shaking and her eyes flickering, she could only barely make out the words that had replaced the plaque's usual message.

it's me.

 


	11. Back to Zero, Here we Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is almost over, isn't it? The last chapter is fairly short, so it should go up quicker than the last two.

The man who was known to the animatronics as the night person leaned his back against the wall of Party Room 1, discreetly angling his ears towards the cracked door, outside of which a conversation was being held. It had only two participants, one of which sounded female, and the other male. The night person shifted a little, keeping their eyes on the party and their ears on the conversation.

“I-I don't know what could've happened.” The woman stuttered in an exasperated voice. “The camera went out. I couldn't get it back on, and there were just calls coming in like crazy...”

“You did all you could.” The man assured her. “There was no way to predict this. We'll get it resolved.”

“I hope so.” The woman sighed. “I filed the reports and everything, and I checked the back room like he told me to.”

“You checked all the animatronics?” The man asked.

“Yes. Several times.” She answered hastily, with an implied nod.

“And the puppet?”

“Gone.” The woman declared. “Just gone. No trace of him. Box was ruined.”

“Ahh, just keep your eyes on the party.” The man ordered. The night person moved away from the door as a slight, dark-haired woman poked her head in. She smiled at the night person, but there was still an undeniable tiredness in her eyes. Her body followed, cloaked in a purple dress with a ruffled skirt.

It was a very nice looking dress; the night person thought he'd glimpsed it in a fashion magazine somewhere. The skirt was a casual short length, about midway down her thighs, and it had short, slightly puffy sleeves. It was accented by two cute little buttons and a bow below her neckline. Her shoes didn't match, but it looked like she'd been wearing the dress for at least a day or two, so she'd probably had a matching pair on at some point. There were smudges on her face, particularly around her eyes, which indicated that she had also been wearing makeup.

“Heya!” She greeted the ensemble in the party room. “Are you kids havin' fun?” The answer was a resounding 'yes'. She brushed her short hair behind her ears and turned to the night person. “You're doing good.” She encouraged. “Ohh, I've been so busy the past few days.” She muttered, half to herself. “I've been wearing this same freakin' dress since yesterday morning. It's funny, I wore it almost in celebration...” She said wistfully. “I guess I celebrated too soon.” She examined a clipboard in her hands, then glanced towards the only clock in the room. She pulled her dress's neckline up nervously.

Some of the children were crowding around Chiaki, and laughing happily at her presence. Mikan was there too, having offered them balloons and small gifts earlier. She was willing to take abuse from the children, but they seemed to lose interest in her relatively quickly.

“Where are the other ones?” A child who appeared to be the birthday girl asked the woman in the purple dress.

“They're here.” She assured the little girl. The child missed the moment of exasperated horror on the woman's face. “We'll bring them.” She continued. With that, she trotted forward and urged Mikan to follow her out of the room. Mikan accepted, but she exchanged a fearful look with Chiaki on the way. The night person watched them go, but then turned his gaze back to Chiaki.

The woman returned with Ibuki in tow. Ibuki seemed fairly happy to see the kids, but she just stared angrily at the few adults in the room. The man who had been talking to the woman earlier pulled her back out into the hall.

“We can't bring Hajime in, I think.” She uttered worriedly. “I mean, I'm worried about a lot of them, but...”

“They'll be alright if we've got both of you in there.”

“Alright...” The woman sighed, clearly not content. She darted back in, seeing that everything was going okay. The children moved away from Chiaki to crowd around Ibuki, who played them a few tunes on her guitar. She still had that vacant look in her eyes.

“Hehe, where's that weird ugly one?” The birthday girl giggled. She was small, even for a little girl, and a pale kind of pretty that gave off the vibe that she was likely very spoiled. The woman in the purple dress made that same distant, horrified face again for a second.

“Yeah, bring him in here!” Another girl chimed in. The woman in the purple dress put on a fake smile, pushing up the faint freckles on her cheeks. The rule they'd set was that there would be no more than two animatronics in the room with the children at the same time. Obviously, they had lost interest in Chiaki.

“Okay, okay.” The woman in the purple dress fake-laughed. “We've just got to get this one out of here first.” She added, pushing through the crowd and up to Chiaki. She took Chiaki by the wrist and tried to lead her out, but Chiaki seemed to initially resist her.

“You need help?” The night person coughed, sliding up next to them.

“No, no, we'll be fine.” The woman in the purple dress continued her cheerful charade. Chiaki looked to the night person for some sort of reassurance, but he just gestured towards the door with his head. She turned away from him and followed the woman in the purple dress out the door. The night person returned to his place beside the doorway, actually a little unsettled without Chiaki or Mikan present.

The children lost interest in Ibuki with almost record speed. The birthday girl kept playing with her hands, casting villainously eager glances towards the half-open door. She looked exactly like the kind of girl who took things apart for fun, even when they weren't made to accommodate that purpose. Fortunately, there was a robot here that was programmed and situated solely to be broken and put back together constantly.

The woman in the purple dress scurried to the show stage as quickly as possible, watching her back as she did so. She no longer felt safe in this place, for a number of reasons. Chiaki walked slower than usual, forcing the woman to nearly drag her all the way to the main room. Once she got there, she dumped Chiaki off without even waiting to see if she returned to the stage. Mikan had not returned the game area; she was standing not too far from the stage, looking forlornly at Hajime.

The woman in the purple dress cast a fearful glance towards the half-open door to the Kids' Cove. She played with the ruffles on her skirt, stalling for as long as possible. Behind her back, Mikan toddled over to Chiaki, still keeping her eyes on Hajime. From the hallway, very human-sounding footsteps rang, and a voice heralded the woman in the purple dress. She turned her head that way immediately, eager already to leave her current station.

“We've got a call coming in.” The man she had been talking to earlier informed her. “You need to take it; I think it's important. I'll get the robot.” The woman nodded, breathing a sigh of relief, and took off as quickly as possible down the hallway. The man, still ignoring the other robots, headed for the Kids' Cove.

He left with Nagto half-draped over his shoulder, partially leading him and partially carrying him. Chiaki had managed to wrestle his clothes back onto him the morning before, albeit with plenty of struggling. Chiaki watched them with fear in her eyes, very worried about not being there while Nagito was.

“Ch-chiaki?” Mikan beckoned, both of them standing close by the stage now. “Are you okay?”

“I am-m.” Chiaki replied. “But Nagito is-s-s not-t.” Chiaki looked over at Hajime, who seemed utterly unresponsive, then back to the hall entrance, where Nagito and the man were rapidly disappearing.

“We can't fix him now...” Mikan mumbled, playing with the bandages on her arm. Chiaki remained silent, staring into the corridor.

“I'm v-very worried, hmmh.” Chiaki sighed at last. “I wish we-e-e weren't the only ones who can-n-n, nnh, do any-y-thing.”

Meanwhile, Nagito had cleared the party room's door. The children cheered unsettlingly, and he glowered at them from the shade of his unkempt hair. His empty eye socket seemed to be an endless void at this point: a portal to another, more hateful realm. The birthday girl sprung from her seat, her long skirt wavering as she did so. An almost evil grin materialized on her face as the man dropped Nagito off and let his body fall to the floor.

The night person shifted uncomfortably as the birthday girl twisted Nagito's ear, and one of her fluffy-haired friends yanked his hair out of his face. She toyed with his jaw, opening and closing it as Nagito let it go slack.

“Don't stick your fingers in his mouth.” The night person warned, adjusting his hat. The birthday girl glared at him, returning to her joyous torment.

Meanwhile, Chiaki was trying not to pace nervously around the stage. “I'm really-y-y frightened...” Chiaki stuttered. Maybe it was just the fact that her system was on the verge of total decay, or maybe it was reasonable fear.

“I don't know what we can do!” Mikan squeaked. “If only I was stronger, or smarter...” She continued, pulling her hair in distress. If they went back there, they would just be pushed out again immediately. Chiaki kept looking at Hajime, who hadn't moved an inch. He wasn't responding to anything anymore, just staring off into space.

Nagito whirred sadly as the kids continued to pull at every part of his body. The night person observed with growing distress, not sure that Nagito should have been there at all. He heard short, sharp footsteps in the hall, and almost breathed a sigh of relief. The woman in the purple dress was returning.

“Mikan, I'm g-going to n-n-need your help.” Chiaki declared, her eyes fixed on Hajime. Mikan cautiously spared a glance at him, wondering what Chiaki was thinking. “Hey, his mic-crophone's on the f-f-floor over ther-re, see?” Chiaki whispered, pointing towards where Hajime had dropped his long-corded microphone. “I'm-m going to get-t it.” Chiaki explained. “You st-stand in front of him-m-m, and try to distrac-ct him. Y-Yank on his tie if you hav-ve to.”

“O-Okay, I'll try.” Mikan agreed. “I don't know what you're doing, but I trust you.” She added, following Chiaki up onto the stage.

The woman in the purple dress peered into the party room with agonizing slowness, as though bracing herself for something. “Damn calls.” She mumbled, sliding in beside the night person and covering her face with her clipboard. It seemed as though there had been more than just a 'damn call' going on. Something had upset her, or several things had upset her.

“I don't think I want him in here.” The night person grumbled under his breath. The woman in the purple dress put down her clipboard and shot Nagito a fearful look. She muttered something unintelligible, not looking at her board again.

They jolted Nagito's head around, flipping him over. A few of them ignored the night person's warning and played with his jaw, pulling on his teeth as they searched for things that could be taken off of him.

As Nagito's face turned towards the adult guards, his eye opened as wide as possible. He emitted loud static, thrashing unexpectedly and heaving himself to his feet. “Don't touch him, don't touch him!” The night person warned, urging the kids to back away. Nagito was hunched over, his hands nearly on the ground, shaking and staring with fixation at the dark-haired woman in the purple outfit. She backed up a step towards the door, and he arched his back and hissed at her.

She tried to discreetly lay her hand on the door, in an attempt to leave slowly and cautiously. As soon as he saw her arm disappear behind the door, he raised his arms and cleared the distance between them in a single, impressive leap. The night person had never seen Nagito's twitchy, weakened body move that fast for any reason.

In the aftermath, there was no blood. Everyone in the room took a moment to try and process what had just occurred, as it had happened with unusual speed. The woman in the purple dress had impeccable reflexes, as well as notable strength and flexibility with which she had kicked Nagito in the jaw. He was back on the floor for a moment, but she did not take this opportunity to leave. She waited for a second, analyzing the situation. Nagito was barely halted, and he turned around and lunged at her again immediately. She dodged elitely, showing surprising agility once more.

Nagito slammed into the door, closing it with full force. He clambered up the frame and positioned himself at the top of the door, glaring at the woman in the purple dress.

“Nobody panic. Don't try to leave.” She stated firmly, with only a tinge of her previous nervous fear. “Get under the tables.” She commanded, gesturing the panicked children away. Nagito continued to stare at her, making that same loud interference noise, his nails sinking into the door frame. “What's your problem?” She snarled under her breath, taking a defensive stance. “Come down.” She said, forcefully but kindly. Her ability to alter her visible emotions was downright startling to the night person.

In another area, Mikan slowly walked up to her old friend Hajime. “Hello.” She greeted timidly. “Can you hear me?” Hajime moved his head to look at her, but he did not respond. Chiaki slid around behind him, picking up the microphone and its long, winding cord. It wasn't plugged in to anything, which helped. As Chiaki found her hold on the cord, she nodded to Mikan, keeping eye contact.

Mikan didn't nod back, but she kept her attention on Hajime. “You know, you're the only one who hasn't seen the party yet...” Mikan rambled, keeping Hajime's senses fixed on her. Chiaki moved up behind him as quietly as possible, requiring all of what concentration she had left. He continued to stare at Mikan with no feeling in his glassy doll eyes, not moving any part of his body. Chiaki brandished the shiny black cord, her fingers locked around it, her flickering eyes locked on the back of Hajime's neck.

“Now, Mikan!”

Just down the hall, in a now-closed room, a lean and dark-haired woman was making slow, defensive movements, clicking her tongue loudly and repeatedly. Nagito was eyeing her with endless hostility, moving in the same sluggish, observant fashion.

“Come on, get off the door.” She purred, sounding deceptively sweet. She continued to click her tongue at him, never taking her eyes off his.

“The hell are you clicking at him like that for?” The night person muttered, forgetting himself for a moment.

“You remember when I told you to flash your light at them down the hall?” She asked, a sly grin creeping onto her face. “Yeah, this is the auditory equivalent of that.” She added. “If you do it enough. It's mimicking the noise that their bodies make when their joints re-align during their system restart. It slows them down, just like flashing lights. It won't stop them, but...”

The night person stopped for a minute, taking in everything that had been implied by what she just said. He'd thought her voice sounded familiar, but he hadn't realized from where. It was her, indeed, who'd left those messages. He silently saluted her for both her wisdom and her apparent physical fitness. He moved to aid her in her quest to pry Nagito from the doorway, but she held out her hand to stop him.

“Don't.” She ordered. “He's only after me. Don't make him mad at you too.” She clicked at Nagito even more, gesturing for him to come down. He just whirred at her and twitched violently. He then bounded down the door frame, but he still swiped at her with his better hand. She kicked him away, flipping herself towards the door. She turned the handle, prompting Nagito to leap towards her again. She sidestepped elitely, oddly well-honed to the situation. She wrestled him off the door, managing to open it.

“Get them out the door.” She mouthed to the night person, pointing at the tables, where kids were peering out from beneath the tablecloths and a few parents were crouching beside their children. Nagito swung his sharp-nailed hand at the woman in the purple dress, clawing the side of her face. She grabbed his jaw, but he struggled out of her grip and fell back to the floor. She managed, with an intricate dodging dance, to get his back against the wall.

Crouching beside the table, the night person sped on a few of the children, who raced from under the tables out the door. Once Nagito realized he had been backed into a corner, he sprinted up the wall and hovered on the edge of the ceiling. The woman in the purple dress continued to pose an endless challenge to him.

“Be careful.” She warned the entire room. Blood from the scratches on the side of her face was leaking down over her neck, but she didn't seem to care at all. Speaking of those who didn't care at all, Ibuki was still in the room, but she made no move to defend either the night person or the woman in the purple dress. The only thing she did was stand behind the night person and watch as the first few children sprinted out.

Chiaki and Mikan had a situation on their hands as well. Chiaki had managed to wind the microphone cord around Hajime's neck, which naturally agitated him. He was silently fighting, lashing out at both Mikan and Chiaki. Fortunately for them, Hajime's depth perception seemed to be altered, and very few of his blows connected.

“M-Mikan, try to pull his head forward.” Chiaki instructed, keeping the microphone wound tight around a certain spot on Hajime's neck. Mikan nervously grabbed Hajime's spiky hair, feeling him seize one of her wrists. She whimpered, but had a moment of bravery and pulled his head forward anyway. Scrambling, since Hajime was much taller than her, Chiaki sank her fingers into his hair and grappled with the surface of his head. She found the latch and pried his casing open, gazing into his inner mechanisms. “K-K-Keep him s-still.” Chiaki advised, knowing the Mikan wasn't very strong and could only do so much.

Hajime gripped Mikan's wrist even harder. Chiaki slid the same drive attachment from her wrist, but she froze. “Do y-you hear that, mmne?” Chiaki asked.

“Hear what?” Mikan replied, concerned.

“Music...” Chiaki murmured. “Pop goes the weasel.”

“No.” Mikan answered. “I don't hear anything...” Chiaki stared off for a moment, worry striking her again.

“We h-have to hurr-r-ry.” Chiaki sighed, sticking her hand into Hajime's head. “K-Keep that w-w-wound, Mik-kan.” She added, referring to the microphone cord on his neck. Mikan grabbed the microphone and the other end of the cord, pulling them tightly.”C-Come on...” Chiaki muttered. “We're r-running out-t-t of time...” She hissed, as the music in her head continued to play, getting louder and faster.

The woman in the purple dress tried her best to distract Nagito. The night person ushered the kids out the door whenever Nagito was turned the other way, but his head darted back towards the door whenever he heard them. The woman was struggling to keep him from closing it again, grappling constantly and narrowly avoiding the grip of his creaking jaws. “You little...” She mumbled, the scratches on her face stinging.

 _Reboot successful._ “There we go!” Chiaki exclaimed. “H-Hey, we're alm-most there.” The music in her head sped up, accented by strange deeper notes that she had never heard before. “We'll mak-ke it in-n-n time...” She reassured herself. Hajime let go of Mikan's wrist and re-aligned himself, happily declaring his startup message.

“We need you, Hajime.” Mikan squealed, her arms on his shoulders. Chiaki looked down at the hallway again.

“We n-need to r-r-run.” Chiaki pronounced. She finally retracted her hand from Hajime's head and closed it, not bothering to take the microphone off his neck.

“Where are we running to?” Hajime asked concernedly, as if he had tuned out the entire past few days.

“Party room 1.” Mikan answered, taking off after Chiaki.

The woman in the purple dress dodged while the birthday girl whined from beneath the table. She clicked her tongue at Nagito, watching as he twitched on the ceiling. Nagito opened his jaw, his white teeth glimmering and his voice box radiating interference. “Let's dance, Mangle.” She chuckled, adding a few clicks. She stepped sharply to the right, then the left, twisting her body to take advantage of his limited depth perception. “Nothing's gonna ruin my day.” She grumbled, her eyes shining with heavy determination.

How had she learned to fight and defend like that? And also, why had she kept it hidden for so long? She answered phones in the back office, but she should've been in the army or something. Why did _he_ end up being the security guard? He shook off the thought. There were more pressing matters on his hands.

A line of about three kids raced out the door while the night person kept an eye on Nagito. Strangely, he seemed mostly only interested in the woman in the purple dress, and not the night person or the kids. He thought he heard footsteps in the hallway, but he didn't get up to go check.

In a single, twisted movement, Nagito made his final lunge at the woman in the purple dress, his mouth opened wide. She dropped herself out of the way, but at that same time the birthday girl herself made a very daring move. Hoping to duck behind the woman in the purple dress, fake tears streaming down her face, she'd bolted for the door.

_Pop! Goes the wea-sel..._

And there he was, bent over like torn chainlink fence still clinging to its posts. He was frozen, a single pallid eye gazing out into infinity, his jaws positioned where they might as well have stayed for all eternity.

It was quiet for a moment, and then, out of all people, the woman in the purple dress caved first. Half of her face was crusted with half-dried blood as she fell to her knees and buried it in her hands. Then there was noise, but somehow it still seemed silent. There was blood, so much blood, still flowing and still pooling. He was just holding her up now, not moving, hiding her face with his jaws and his hair.

Then the night person dashed forward in a moment of valiance, and he tried to get a grip on Nagito's face. Nagito would not let go, and he could not pry Nagito's jaws apart, no matter how he struggled.

“It's over!” The woman in the purple dress wailed. “It's over, Mark, just...Just let it go... You can't get him off.”

And then the door opened, but nobody was watching. Chiaki had heard the last notes, and she'd prayed with all her heart, but they were too late. The night person was quivering, trying to wrench Nagito from where he stood half-hunched with a poor girl's head in his mouth. His teeth had pierced her skull, no doubt about it, and were probably lodged in her brain.

Mikan shrieked, but Hajime darted forward and shoved the night person away. He braced his hands on Nagito's jaw and pried it apart so hard that he tore the skin-like covering on Nagito's face clear out to the edges of his head. The girl fell to the floor in a blood-covered heap, and Mikan kneeled beside her.

“Don't touch her, please.” Mikan ordered, examining the little girl's wound. Chiaki kept her eyes locked on Nagito, who turned and looked at her painfully. It appeared that Hajime had broken Nagito's jaw, which was obviously off its hinges. Blood stained his mouth, trailing down his chest. “I don't think she's dead...” Mikan declared. “B-But I can't activate emergency mode. We need...an ambulance!” She cried. The night person rose and sprinted down the hall for the office phone.

“Nobody touch her.” Mikan said. “Let her be; if you move her right now, you'll hurt her worse...” Mikan's hands shook uncontrollably.

“Th-this is it.” Chiaki sighed forlornly, smiling a small, sad smile. The other four animatronics turned to look at her. Ibuki was borderline unresponsive. “This is-s-sszzz the end.” She whirred.

“It's over, isn't it?” Mikan whimpered. “Y-You kept saying... But we couldn't stop it anyway.” The woman in the purple dress slowly stood up, and Nagito slammed his broken face into the ground. Footsteps came in through the door: loud, masculine ones. Chiaki reached her arm down and took Mikan's bandaged hand, pulling her to her feet. She gestured for Ibuki to come over, and surprisingly, she did. Mikan took her hint and held Ibuki's hand, keeping Chiaki's in her other one. Hajime brushed up alongside Chiaki and took her free hand, then looked back at Nagito.

Nagito was collapsed on the floor, buzzing in a sobbing fashion. “Come on.” Hajime urged, very softly. “Stand up.” Nagito stretched out his back, but did not even lift his head. “C'mon, buddy.” Hajime continued, breaking temporarily to kneel beside Nagito and ruffle his hair. “Get up off your knees.” Nagito raised his head a little and looked at Hajime, searching for honesty in his eyes. Hajime beckoned him up again, and Nagito rose shakily to his unsteady feet. Hajime linked up with Chiaki again, holding Nagito's hand now too.

They all looked down the row, satisfaction pricking smiles onto the corners of their mouths. “This is it-t-t.” Chiaki repeated. She closed her eyes, gripping Mikan and Hajime's hands as hard as she could.

A hand reached through Ibuki's thin cords of hair, pulling it away from her neck.

_Goodbye._ Mikan felt all of Ibuki's weight fall onto her hand as she collapsed. Mikan closed her eyes, just like Chiaki, knowing she was next.

_Goodbye._ Chiaki smiled warmly, what was left of her mind filled with pleasant memories.

_Goodbye._

 


	12. They Were Kids That I Once Knew

_I don't know if I have much to say on the matter._

_I don't know entirely what is known about it, but I will do my best to fill in the blanks._

_Only four children were killed that night, not the assumed five. The fifth one was me, and I am...not entirely a victim. Everything I did, I did of my own volition. Because you see, unlike the others, I have free will, a perception of a world outside of that pizzeria, a world with structures and systems. I have what they do not have, and that is a human soul._

_I don't know if it is entirely correct to say that I have a soul; technically, the soul is contained within a mechanism in a tiny music box. It was built that way. I was an afterthought, added so that the soul might have a vessel to affect. My name is not Izuru, I truly have no name. Izuru was a human, his thoughts and will all his own. Just because his soul is in an item that I am tethered to does not make me him._

_That's what always made me different. I had a mind, somewhere in the bridge between my mechanisms and Izuru Kamukura's tortured soul. I had a reason to dislike the concept of restrainment and confinement, to dislike what had been changed about my original design. I could have been a great robot, like them, but even stronger with the power of that soul. But it did not happen that way. I was discarded, a failed project that ran an organization into the ground. I was a mess of parts when I was handed off to a toy manufacturing company under the guise of being a puppet._

_They made me what I am. They changed me, turned me into this. But they had no way of knowing about the soul, they only knew that I would not work right without that music box. I had some semblance of humanity in me, which caused me to develop hatred. Hatred for confinement, for being controlled. I was angry that my purpose had no been fulfilled, that Izuru Kamukura's glory was not mine._

_I found that I had power, to a certain degree. And, out of spite for my detainment, I abused it whenever I could. I toyed with anything electric, trying to hone my  only ability: Giving off electrical interference. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish, really._

_And then she came. She liked me, strangely, when no other adults did. She offered me freedom, which was my ultimate desire. I told her I would do anything, and when I found out that it would also cause harm to those lumbering robots and to this foul prison of a restaurant, I was almost ecstatic. She had done awful things before, which ended up being why she was investigated and fired. They did not turn her in, but for what reason is beyond me. It may have something to do with a particular employee who was part of the plan from the beginning. We knew that she would rather lie about everything than be connected to either of us in any way. She would cover us up, but not because she liked us. Because she was trying to distance herself from us._

_I did do anything. I aided her in slaughtering four innocent children in the cold blood of despair. She said that she could make me more powerful, and so she did. I could feel all the energy in the building when she was done with me, even the subtle prick of energy in the night guard's heartbeat. I could manipulate all of it, too, if I so desired. But all I needed was to condition the air in the back room to a heat that could cloak the death times of those children, and put the camera out for as long as we needed._

_What Miss Enoshima did to me is highly irrelevant, I find. She has done it to me since, or as I should say, tried to, since she seems to have noticed an important flaw in her logic. What she did to those children ended up affecting me a lot more._

_There are cons to having a soul on top of system programming._

_In the aftermath, she left. I took a moment to cover her tracks, make sure that no camera caught a glimpse of her as she fled. But in that room... There was nothing but death. So much death. I could feel it, like I'd never felt anything before, as if it was part of my new sixth electrical sense. There were souls there. Lost souls, doomed to wander this place for enternity, in search of closure, a guide to the afterlife who would never come._

_A part of me is not a sociopath's distorted ressurection. That part is programmed to smile and give gifts to children, and feel synthetic joy when they cheer. It won out, perhaps, in that moment. I was angry, profoundly so, and so sad that I was almost scared. I could not believe what I had just helped come to fruition._

_That little blue-haired girl had embraced me just a few days earlier, despite knowing that touching me was generally against the rules. I was able to hug her back at that time, but I had not for the sake of keeping the whole 'puppet' facade. I recognized her, which made it all even worse. I felt those poor little souls claw at me; I felt their fear and their sadness and their hatred of her. Such strong hate for such young children._

_No gift would make them smile and embrace me, bring that artificial happiness back to me. Except one._

_Life._

_My hair began to swirl as though trapped in a strom, but he air in the back room was stagnant. The lights in my eyes shone red, bright red, as I gathered all the power I could. I...I bound those souls to the broken robots that contained what had once been their bodies. The pact was that they were sworn to kill Enoshima, and only once she had suffered the same fate she had given them would their souls be free to their proper state._

_I fell to my knees, shaking, and looked around at them. Their souls would override their programming, even if it took time. And once she was dead, the weight on them would be lifted. They would pass to wherever fate meant for them to be, rather than wandering this place aimlessly as they may have if I had let them be. After a moment, I rose to my feet, and continued my sad staring. As I made to leave, I heard an atrocious noise, and turned to see a spindly hand touch my shoulder._

_It was that horrific thing that had once been known as Peko, her endoskeleton I suppose. It was dragging its own exoskeleton around by the hair. I must have reactivated her accidentally while I was tampering with the energies. She looked at me with those exposed eyes and spoke, even though I though that Enoshima had deactivated Peko's voice box. She said 'thank you', I think, and then she stumbled and slowly dropped to the floor. I gave her one last look and took my leave._

_I fled with Enoshima. She has since treated me as though I am a human of her very own, her lover, even. That unprecedented moment of anger vanished in the wind, and we moved on our way as partners in crime._

_She has taken exceptional care of me. I like her as much as I can find it to like anything, which is more than I thought. She has continued to improve my movement mechanisms, making me physically stronger and more stable on my feet. She's found a way to keep that music box on all night, so that I do not suffer from the glitch that occurs between the two halves of my psyche. I would say, even, that I love her..._

_But something has come to my attention. It is true that I experience perceptual anomalies during the glitch periods, much like human nightmares. But those should only occur when the music box stops playing, and I have been having them without that. I have been waking up spontaneously, following bursts of that terrible feeling coupled with imagery that provokes it. I see...The kids, a lot. Dying, or in those suits. And Peko's endoskeleton quite literally haunts my nightmares. And sometimes I see Enoshima cackling in that robot mask, wielding a blood-stained knife._

_I keep remembering them, and I keep remembering all those feelings I should not have felt. They...bother some part of me. It bothers me to know that they're still out there somewhere, still wandering at night and searching for her. Never resting, their only objective to kill her, but never finding her._

_I am having nightmares of conscience. Strange, since I always believed that I had none. I have grown sadness, which I never wanted, and guilt. I could not live with myself remaining in Enoshima's lap and pretending like that part of me that is meant to make children happy will ever rest._

_There is only one thing I can do. I have made up my mind._ _I must run from her. I must hide. In the last place she will ever expect, and the only place she needs to be._

_The new and 'improved' Mr. Monobear's Pizzeria._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Moves toward camera*  
> THERE'S GONNA BE A CRAPPY SEQUEL!


End file.
